Lancet
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Cryoanalgesia for post-thoracotomy pain.
Intercostal block by a freezing technique was compared with blockade by local anaesthetics or no blockade as a method of treating post-thoracotomy pain. The 15 patients who received cryotherapy had significantly less postoperative pain than the 9 patients whose nerves were blocked by local anaesthetics or who did not receive any nerve block. The interruption of nerve function produced by cryotherapy was temporary (not more than 30 days), and there were no adverse sequelae.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
A control, double-blind comparison of mepivacaine injection versus saline injection for myofascial pain.
In a double-blind study 28 patients with acute, localised muscle pain received four local injections of mepivacaine 0.5%, and 25 patients with the same type of pain received local injections of an equivalent volume of physiological saline. The group receiving saline tended to have more relief of pain, especially after the first injection. ⋯ The study therefore raises questions about the mechanism by which local injections into muscle relieves pain, since there is the possibility that a similar effect might also be achieved by merely inserting a needle into the trigger point. Physiological saline is considered to be a more appropriate fluid for injection therapy than local anaesthetics since it is less likely to produce side-effects.