Towards evidence-based emergency medicine: best BETs from the Manchester Royal Infirmary. BET 2: the use of local anaesthetic lubrication for the catheterisation of males.

A short cut review was carried out to establish whether local anaesthetic lubrication is necessary for urethral catheterisation in men. Two studies were directly relevant to the question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these papers are tabulated. The clinical bottom line is that the use of local anaesthetic is effective in this population and should form part of the procedure.