British journal of plastic surgery
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
EMLA cream on the ears--is it effective? A prospective, randomised controlled trial of the efficacy of topical anaesthetic cream in reducing the pain of local anaesthetic infiltration for prominent ear correction.
A prospective, randomised, double blind trial was carried out to test whether or not the application of topical anaesthetic cream (EMLA cream) before infiltration of local anaesthetic would decrease the discomfort of correction of prominent ears under local anaesthetic. 23 patients were entered into the trial. They acted as their own controls, one ear having EMLA cream applied approximately 2 h prior to surgery, and the other Aqueous cream. ⋯ The results showed that, compared to the placebo cream, EMLA cream significantly decreased the pain felt both at the time of injection (p < 0.005) and during the surgery (p < 0.01). However, only 62% of patients asked felt that the inconvenience associated with the use of EMLA cream was worth the benefits that it conveyed.