Topical anesthesia with EMLA does not decrease pain during vasectomy.
OBJECTIVE
Previous studies show conflicting results of the ability of EMLA (eutectic mixture of local anesthetics) to decrease pain during vasectomy. We examined the effectiveness of EMLA cream to decrease pain in patients undergoing bilateral percutaneous no-scalpel vasectomy.


METHODS
A prospective study was performed in which 316 patients used EMLA cream (178) or no topical anesthesia (138) before vasectomy. EMLA cream was applied by patients 1 hour before the scheduled time of surgery. Bilateral percutaneous no-scalpel vasectomy was then performed in the 2 groups with local infiltration of 1% lidocaine into the scrotal wall and vasal sheath. Following the procedure patients were asked to rate their associated pain using a visual analog scale. Statistical analysis was performed using the 2-sided Student t test.


RESULTS
Mean patient age was similar in the groups with and without EMLA (39.1 and 39.0 years, respectively). No significant difference in mean visual analog pain scores were noted between the EMLA and control groups (21.5 vs 21.0, p = 0.8).


CONCLUSIONS
Topical anesthesia with EMLA did not significantly decrease the pain associated with percutaneous vasectomy.
Thomas
Anil A
AA
Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA.
Nguyen
Carvell T
CT
Dhar
Nivedita B
NB
Sabanegh
Edmund S
ES
Jones
J Stephen
JS
D000328:Adult; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077442:Lidocaine, Prilocaine Drug Combination; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011318:Prilocaine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017211:Treatment Failure; D014659:Vasectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*
D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D000077442:Lidocaine, Prilocaine Drug Combination; D011318:Prilocaine; D008012:Lidocaine