Effectiveness of lidocaine lubricant for discomfort during pediatric urethral catheterization.
OBJECTIVE
Many children with urinary tract infections and vesicoureteral reflux require catheterization. Catheterization can be a painful experience, and a desire to avoid this experience may affect patient care. We evaluated the effectiveness of lubricant containing lidocaine for minimizing patient pain and distress during catheterization.


METHODS
We conducted a prospective, double-blind, placebo controlled trial. Twenty children (16 girls and 4 boys, mean age 7.7 years) had urethral lubricant with or without lidocaine placed within 10 minutes before urethral catheterization. In all children pre-procedure anxiety, and pain and distress during catheterization were recorded. Pre-procedure anxiety was measured using a visual analog scale, pain was measured with the Oucher Pain Scale and distress was recorded by 2 independent observers with a simple 7-point Likert-type scale.


RESULTS
There were no significant group differences for age, number of previous catheterizations or pre-procedure anxiety. The group receiving lubricant with lidocaine had significantly lower pain (21 +/- 19.69 versus 65.5 +/- 26.29) and distress (2.65 +/- 1.97 versus 4.7 +/- 2.07) (p = 0.001 and 0.007, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
The use of lubricant with lidocaine significantly decreases pain with pediatric urethral catheterization and is recommended with pediatric catheterizations.
Gerard
Lisa L
LL
Department of Pediatrics, Univeristy of Iowa, Iowa City, 52242-1089, USA.
Cooper
Christopher S
CS
Duethman
Kathy S
KS
Gordley
Brenda M
BM
Kleiber
Charmaine M
CM
D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001007:Anxiety; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008153:Lubrication; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014521:Urethra; D014546:Urinary Catheterization / Q000379:methods*
D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D008012:Lidocaine