Thyroid : official journal of the American Thyroid Association
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Needle-free delivery of lidocaine for reducing the pain associated with the fine-needle aspiration biopsy of thyroid nodules: time-saving and efficacious procedure.
Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is a mandatory procedure in evaluation of thyroid nodules. However, it is sometimes perceived as a painful procedure by the patients. Efficacy of the needle-free injection of local anesthesia for reducing the pain associated with other cutaneous procedures that involve needle insertion was previously reported. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, we evaluated the effectiveness of a needle-free injection of lidocaine in achieving satisfactory pain control in patients undergoing FNAB of thyroid nodules. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating that the needle-free delivery of lidocaine is an effective, useful, and noninvasive method of providing local anesthesia for the FNAB of thyroid nodules.