Prilocaine versus lignocaine for minor lid procedures

Purpose To determine whether prilocaine is a more comfortable local infiltr ation anaesthetic agent than the more widely used lignocaine for minor eyel id procedures. Methods A prospective randomised study was undertaken to compare the discom fort between local infiltration of plain 2% prilocaine versus its equivalen t, plain 2% lignocaine. One hundred and twenty-five patients were recruited . Pain was assessed subjectively using a visual analogue pain score, graded from 0 to 10. Results The mean pain score for the prilocaine group was 1.82 compared with 3.19 for the lignocaine group. Using the Mann-Whitney U-test for significa nce, U = 1236.5; p < 0.001. Conclusion Prilocaine is a more comfortable local infiltration anaesthetic agent than lignocaine when used for minor eyelid procedures.