title: Lignocaine gel: does it cause urethral pain rather than prevent it?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the hypothesis that the chemical content of lignocaine gel is the cause of urethral pain during its instillation into the urethra.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective, double blind study was designed to test whether plain aqueous gel caused less delivery discomfort in the male urethra than 2% lignocaine hydrochloride gel (Instillagel). 100 consecutive, consenting male patients attending for flexible cystoscopy were recruited and randomised to receive 11 ml of 2% lignocaine hydrochloride gel or 11 ml of plain aqueous gel. Upon receiving the gel into the urethra, the patient was asked to score any associated discomfort by using a horizontal, 100mm, non-graphical, visual analogue scale. Statistical comparison between the groups was made using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistical analysis by Mann-Whitney U-test showed a significant reduction in urethral delivery discomfort in those patients receiving plain gel compared to those receiving 2% lignocaine hydrochloride gel (p=0.039).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This current study has shown that plain aqueous gel causes significantly less delivery discomfort in the male urethra than 2% lignocaine hydrochloride gel (Instillagel).
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Craigavon Area Hospital Group Trust, 68 Lurgan Road, Portadown, County Armagh BT63 5QQ, Northern Ireland, UK.
authors.forename: Kuo J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Trevor J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Aidan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Michael R A
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McCleane
mesh_terms: D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D003558:Cystoscopy; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005782:Gels; D006801:Humans; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014521:Urethra
chemical_list: D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D005782:Gels; D008012:Lidocaine