American journal of hospital pharmacy
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Lidocaine anesthesia: comparison of iontophoresis, injection, and swabbing.
The duration and depth of anesthesia produced by lidocaine with three methods of administration were studied. To test duration of anesthesia, either lidocaine or placebo was administered by iontophoresis, subcutaneous infiltration, or swabbing to each of three sites 3 cm apart on the flexor surface of each forearm of 27 subjects. ⋯ Lidocaine iontophoresis produced local anesthesia of significantly longer duration (p less than 0.001) than topical application of lidocaine or placebo by any route of administration, but of significatnly shorter duration (p less tahn 0.001) than lidocaine infiltration. The results showed that lidocaine iontophoresis is an effective method of producing local anesthesia for about five minutes without requiring the use of a hypodermic needle and syringe.