%0 Journal Article
%T Comparison of Topical Anesthetics for Radiofrequency Ablation of Achrocordons: Eutectic Mixture of Lignocaine/Prilocaine versus Lidocaine/Tetracaine
%A Pratik Gahalaut
%A Nitin Mishra
%A Sandhya Chauhan
%A Madhur Kant Rastogi
%J ISRN Dermatology
%D 2014
%R 10.1155/2014/743027
%X Introduction. Topical application of local anesthetics is currently considered to be the easiest, most effective, and convenient way for treatment of patients who may be undergoing superficial dermatosurgical procedures. Materials and Methods. This study compares the anesthetic potential of 2.5% lidocaine and 2.5% prilocaine topical cream with 7% lignocaine and 7% tetracaine combination cream for radio ablative dermatosurgery when applied, under occlusion, for 30 minutes. 40 subjects of achrocordons were enrolled in this split-side randomized trial. Result. The pain severity experienced by subjects in terms of visual analogue scale score was significantly lesser for lignocaine/tetracaine combination cream as compared to lidocaine/prilocaine combination. Conclusion. This small study proves the efficacy of lidocaine/tetracaine combination as a topical anesthetic cream when applied for a short time interval of 30 minutes. This will help a dermatosurgeon to perform various dermatological procedures in a better and efficient manner with a shorter waiting period for analgesia to set in. 1. Introduction Radiofrequency ablation (radiosurgery, high frequency electrosurgery) is a dermatosurgical procedure that aims at the surgical management of benign and malignant skin conditions by using various forms of alternating current at ultrahigh frequency (500¨C4000£¿kHz) [1]. Radiofrequency surgery has gained importance in the recent years as it has distinct advantages, like less bleeding, cutting as well as coagulation ability, minimal tissue trauma, faster healing, and good aesthetic results [2]. Nowadays most of the dermatologists prefer using radiosurgery in place of electrosurgery units. Dermatological procedures may be associated with pain and discomfort. For some patients, the procedural pain, associated stress, and anxiety represent a significant clinical concern [3]. This can be alleviated to a great extent by using a local anesthetic. Local anesthesia can be administered by injection or through the use of topical creams [4]. Traditionally, intradermal injection of lidocaine (with or without the use of epinephrine) has been the method of choice for induction of local anesthesia [5, 6]. Local anesthetic, that is, lignocaine, is administered before most radio-surgical techniques [1, 2]. However, injectable anesthetics are often painful, are difficult to use in ¡°needlephobic¡± patients, and may result in anatomic distortions which is unacceptable in cosmetic procedures [4]. Many topical anesthetic creams have become available over the last few years and they claim
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.dermatology/2014/743027/