Local anaesthesia: to warm or alter the pH? A survey of current practice

Warming or buffering local anaesthetic solutions prior to injection has bee n shown to reduce the pain experienced by patients. Although clinical pract ice varies widely, this practice has been commonplace within dental surgery for many years. A postal survey was carried out to ascertain the current p ractices of a group of general surgeons and maxillofacial surgeons with reg ard to their local anaesthetic technique. Significant differences existed b etween the two groups in both their practice and knowledge of this subject.