Comparative study of a mixture of lignocaine and tetracaine cream and a mixture of lignocaine and prilocaine cream for pain relief during venepuncture in adult patients: A prospective, randomized, double blinded clinical trial

Pain sensation from venepuncture not only affects the patient physically and psychologically but also hinders the functioning of the health care provider. Lignocaine has been tested for its use in order to decrease intensity of pain during intravenous cannulation for long time. A newer drug tetracine with less systemic adverse effects has been tried recently. The analgesic efficacy of the eutectic mixture of lignocaine and prilocaine has been compared with mixture of Lignocaine and tetracaine when applied during venepuncture in adult patients under similar condition, as there is dearth of study with tetracaine. 90 patients randomly allocated in two groups and finally 80 patients analysed, after dropout each group having 40 patients. Group P- Topical application of Lignocaine & Prilocaine cream before venepuncture (n=40).Group T - Topical applicaton of Lignocaine & Tetracaine cream before venepuncture (n=40).The effectiveness of analgesia was determined by documenting the 10 point Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Hemodynamic parameters were noted as secondary outcome. Demographic profile were comparable, mean pain score (VAS) of the patients of Group-P was significantly higher than that of the patients of Group-T (t=3.74; p<0.001). Hemodynamic parameters were normal. Finding of the study corroborate that Lignocaine 7% & Tetracaine 7% cream (group T) offers better analgesia than Lignocaine 2.5% & Prilocaine 2.5% cream (group P) when applied under similar conditions 60 minutes before venepuncture in adult patients.