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Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine logoLink to Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
. 1995 May;88(5):264–267.

Analgesia for venous cannulation: a comparison of EMLA (5 minutes application), lignocaine, ethyl chloride, and nothing.

I R Selby 1, B J Bowles 1
PMCID: PMC1295196  PMID: 7636819

Abstract

Three commonly available local anaesthetics were compared, in a controlled trial, for use before venous cannulation. The pain of application of the local anaesthetic, the pain of cannulation, and the rate of successful cannulations were compared. The value of EMLA cream applied for 5 min was questioned. Venous cannulation with a 20G venflon was found to be significantly more painful than the application of any of the local anaesthetics (P < 0.01). Lignocaine 1%, injected subcutaneously, and ethyl chloride spray significantly reduced the pain of venous cannulation (P < 0.01). The use of lignocaine did not result in significantly more failed cannulations than the control group. It was concluded that local anaesthesia should be used before venous cannulation, even for 20G cannulae.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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