Comparison of the analgesic effect of an ice cube versus 4% lidocaine cream in intradermal antibiotic skin testing

• Published in: Hong Kong journal of emergency medicine 2012-09, Vol.19 (5), p.327-330
• Main Authors: Shin, HJ, Park, JM, Kim, KH, Shin, DW, Park, JS, Roh, JY, Kim, H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analgesia; Analgesics; Cold; cryotherapy; Emergency medicine; Pain; Physiological effect; Therapeutic use; topical anesthetic; Treatment
• ISSN: 1024-9079; 2309-5407
• DOI: 10.1177/102490791201900505

Objective: This study was performed to compare the analgesic effect of an ice cube with that of 4% lidocaine cream (L.M.X.4) for intradermal skin testing.Methods: In this prospective randomised study, healthy adult volunteers were divided into ice cube and lidocaine analgesic pretreatment groups. Randomisation was performed using a randomisation table in blocks of four. Intradermal skin testing was performed after applying ice in the ice cube group and 5 mg of lidocaine cream in the lidocaine group. After the intradermal skin test, the pain intensity was investigated using the visual analog scale (VAS) on questionnaires. We calculated that a minimum of 24 subjects were required for statistical power of 80% at a significance level of 0.05 (twosided). The groups' VAS scores were compared using the Mann-Whitney U-test.Results: The study population consisted of 35 volunteers: 17 in the ice cube group and 18 in the lidocaine group. There were no differences in demographic characteristics between the two groups. The median VAS score was 20 (interquartile range: 0-35) in the ice cube group and 70 (interquartile range: 50-80) in the lidocaine group (p