Comparative Evaluation Of Application Of Cold Stimulus Versus Topical Anaesthesia To Control Pain Caused During Injection Of Local Anaesthetic Solution - A Preliminary Study

Introduction: Topical cooling has long been used to help heal injured tissues. Local external cooling has been used for treating sprains, burns, fractures, bruising and insect bites. There is very little information in the literature regarding the benefits of pre-cooling the injection site, to reduce the pain and discomfort caused due to injection. Aim: To do a comparative study on the effectiveness of cold stimulus instead of topical anaesthetic during injection of local anaesthetic solution. Materials and Methods: Patients will be subjected to LA injections after one of the following mucosal preparations - 1. no pretreatment ; 2. a 2 min application of 15% lidocaine topical anaesthetic; 3. application of cold stimulus. Patients will then give a score on the injection discomfort after each administration on a 100 mm visual analogue scale. Results: With application of cold stimulus using ice sticks prior to local anaesthetic injection, 60% of the study population had mild discomfort/pain and 40% had moderate discomfort/pain. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that topical application of cold stimulus prior to the injection of local anaesthetic solution, helps reducing the pain and discomfort caused by the injection.