Do topical anesthetics reduce periareolar injectional pain before sentinel lymph node biopsy?
BACKGROUND
Topical anesthetics have been used in various procedures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate efficacy of lidocaine/prilocaine cream in decreasing the pain of injection for sentinel lymph node biopsy.


METHODS
A prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled study was conducted on female breast cancer patients undergoing periareolar injection for sentinel lymph node isolation. Subjects applied lidocaine/prilocaine cream or a placebo cream before injection and completed a survey postoperatively.


RESULTS
Twenty treatment and 19 control patients were studied. There was a trend for control subjects to indicate that the injection was "painful" or "extremely painful" more often than treatment subjects (52.6% vs 25.0%, respectively, P = .074). The treatment group was more likely to recommend the cream to other cancer patients (70.0% vs 42.1%), with a trend toward significance (P = .076).


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed no statistically significant reduction in pain scores in subjects receiving the topical anesthetic. Further studies targeting patients with low pain tolerance may prove more effective.
Department of Surgery, University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, Wichita, KS, USA.
Jennifer M
JM
O'Connor
Stephen D
SD
Helmer
Jacqueline S
JS
Osland
Therese E
TE
Cusick
Patty L
PL
Tenofsky
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000772:Anesthesia, Local / Q000379:methods*; D019162:Anesthetics, Combined / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008408:Mastectomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009558:Nipples; D009824:Ointments; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011318:Prilocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011446:Prospective Studies; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D019162:Anesthetics, Combined; D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D009824:Ointments; D011318:Prilocaine; D008012:Lidocaine