A prospective comparison between skin cooling and skin vibration in reducing the pain of local anesthetic infiltration.

BACKGROUND

Growing evidence supports skin cooling (cryoanalgesia) or skin vibration (vibroanalgesia) as potential techniques for pain alleviation.

AIMS: To compare the effect of skin vibration using the Buzzy® vibration device with that of skin cooling for 2 minutes, as methods to reduce the pain of 1% lidocaine-epinephrine infiltration.

METHODS & MATERIALS: Sixty healthy volunteers were recruited for this prospective study. Each subject received an intradermal injection of the anesthetic solution after application of the Buzzy® vibration device in one arm and another injection after ice application in the other arm. After each injection, the subjects rated pain of infiltration on a 100-mm visual analog scale. Pain scores were compared using a paired t test.

RESULTS

Twenty-seven of sixty subjects (45%) reported that the 1% lidocaine-epinephrine infiltration after skin cooling was more painful than after skin vibration. Eleven subjects (18.3%) gave the same pain score for both techniques. The mean pain score ± SD was 30 ± 23.14 after skin cooling and 25.5 ± 24.1 after skin vibration. The difference between mean values was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

Skin vibration may be more effective than skin cooling in alleviating the pain caused by local anesthetic infiltration, although the difference was not statistically significant.