Is paracervical block anesthesia for oocyte retrieval effective?

OBJECTIVE

To quantitate pain relief associated with paracervical local anesthesia during transvaginal ultrasound-guided collection.

DESIGN

The study was a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, and no treatment-controlled investigation. Pain scores for vaginal pain associated with entry into the cul-de-sac and global assessment for the entire procedure were generated separately by patient and physician. Variables evaluated include duration of procedure, patient weight and age, total number of vaginal and ovarian "follicular" punctures, number of oocytes retrieved, and amount of IV medication.

SETTING

A private IVF-ET program.

PATIENTS: Women in an IVF-ET program who volunteered to join the study (n = 101).

INTERVENTIONS: Local anesthesia as a paracervical block compared with placebo or no injection during transvaginal oocyte retrieval, with all patients receiving IV sedation.

RESULTS

Both vaginal and global pain scores, whether patient or physician assessed were lower for paracervical block than placebo. Agreements between physician and patient assessments of pain scores were close. Duration of the procedure was correlated with pain score. In general, a placebo effect on pain perception compared with no injection was not seen.

CONCLUSION

Paracervical local anesthesia compared with placebo injection was associated with lower pain scores for both vaginal puncture and global assessment of the oocyte retrieval process but was not significantly better than no injection for global evaluation.