Evaluation of topical anesthetics by laser-induced sensation: Comparison of EMLA 5% cream and 40% lidocaine in an acid mantle ointment
✍ Scribed by Hernández, Estela; González, Salvador; González, Ernesto
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 67 KB
- Volume
- 23
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0196-8092
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Background and Objective: Current techniques for assessing local anesthetics (e.g., pin-prick test) cannot elicit a specific afferent activity without contamination from mechanosensitive receptors. This study was aimed to validate the use of nonscarring laser pulses as a reproducible method to assess effectiveness of topical anesthetics by comparing EMLA 5% cream and 40% lidocaine ointment. Study Design/Materials and Methods: Thirty-two evaluations per compound were achieved in a total of eight healthy subjects. Non-scarring pulses from a 585 nm Pulsed-dye laser and a double-frequency Nd:YAG laser were investigated as pain inducers and the results were statistically analyzed by using a Student t-test. Results: Discrimination of anesthesia was better assessed with the 1,064 nm Nd:YAG laser. Anesthesia obtained by EMLA 5% cream was significantly higher than for 40% lidocaine ointment (P <0.0001). For EMLA cream, the number of evaluations with complete anesthesia was twice as much as for 40% lidocaine. Conclusions: Non-scarring laser pulses are reliable and reproductive pain inducers for assessing topical anesthetics showing a low intra-individual variation. This technique demonstrated that EMLA 5% cream is significantly more effective than 40% lidocaine ointment.