Topical Anaesthetic Gel Clinical Study

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  A non-inferiority study of the clinical effectiveness of anaesthesia obtained via application of Topical Anaesthetic Gel compared to infiltration of lidocaine for the treatment of lacerations in the Emergency Department

• IRAS ID

  9276

• Sponsor organisation

  Northern Health and Social Care Trust (NHSCT)

• Eudract number

  2008-002467-13

• Research summary

  The majority of patients who go to the Emergency Department with a large cut, will require injection of a local anaesthetic into the surrounding tissue before the wound can be cleaned and stitched up. A local anaesthetic is a drug that freezes the surrounding tissue, allowing the doctor to work with the wound without causing pain to the patient. Although this is effective, it can be frightening for young children to face an injection into the area around a sore cut. In addition, the amount oflud injected tends to make stitching a little more difficult. We would like to be able to use a local anaesthetic gel, instead of an injection. In this study we are going to test a new local anaesthetic gel against the injection method to see how well the area around the wound is frozen. Some patients enrolled onto the study will receive the gel and some will receive the injection. At the end we will compare the number of patients whose wounds were frozen sufficiently using the gel and the injection. We will also check whether the use of the gel produces any side effects or increases the rate at which wounds become infected following stitching.

• REC name

  HSC REC A

• REC reference

  09/NIR01/27

• Date of REC Opinion

  6 May 2009

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion