McCluskey 2003.

Methods	Randomized controlled trial
Participants	Age (years, mean ± SD): Control group = 36.7 ± 11.3, EMLA group = 37.1 ± 11.2, Lidocaine group = 41.4 ± 10.7 Gender (M:F): 100% female Inclusion criteria: Age 18 years to70 years old, ASA I‐II, gynaecological day case‐surgery Exclusion criteria: N/A Recruitment: 90 adult patients randomly assigned (30 in each group) Setting: United Kingdom
Interventions	Admixture Control group: placebo cream applied over a wide area to the dorsum of the nondominant hand and distal forearm 60 min before surgery and anaesthesia induced with 18 ml of 1% propofol (Diprivan®) mixed with 2 ml of 0.9% saline EMLA group: EMLA cream applied as described above and anaesthesia induced with 18 ml of 1% propofol mixed with 2 ml of 0.9% saline Lidocaine group: placebo cream applied as described above and anaesthesia induced with 18 ml of 1% propofol premixed with 2 ml of 2% lidocaine (40 mg).
Outcomes	Pain intensity assessed on 4‐point scale 0 = no pain 1 = mild pain 2 = moderate pain 3 = severe pain Outcomes reported and used Incidence of high‐intensity pain Incidence of pain Outcomes sought but not reported Adverse effects Patient satisfaction
Notes	Period of the study: dates not reported
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	N/A
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	"The patients were randomly allocated by sealed envelope into three groups."
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	N/A
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	"The nurses who insert IV cannula were the investigator assessing pain on propofol injection". Possible bias as nurses might suspect patient had had EMLA if they did not have pain when IV cannula inserted. However, the nurses would not know whether patient was in control or lidocaine group which were the groups whose results we analysed.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	No withdrawals
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	N/A
Other bias	Low risk	The study appears to be free of other sources of bias