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.