Pain of Intratympanic Injections Is Not Reduced by Local Anaesthetics

[beeeep]

Didn't see that coming...

This might be of interest for people taking part in the AM-101 (or similar) trial or having intratympanic steroid injections:

Using anaesthetics doesn't help reduce the pain of the injection

OBJECTIVE:
This study compared the pain associated with the intratympanic injection combined with various local anaesthetics vs without anaesthesia.

METHODS:
The study included 40 patients (aged 18-78 years) who received intratympanic steroid injections for sudden idiopathic hearing loss or tinnitus. Each patient underwent all three injection methods at one-week intervals. Patients received one of two local anaesthetics (lidocaine injection or lidocaine spray) or no anaesthesia before intratympanic injection, and used a visual analogue scale to indicate the pain level after 5 and 45 minutes.

RESULTS:
Five minutes after injection, patients who did not receive anaesthesia and those who received lidocaine spray reported lower pain scores than those who received a lidocaine injection (p < 0.05). There was no difference in pain scores for all three methods at 45 minutes after intratympanic injection.

CONCLUSION:
Neither of the local anaesthetics was found to be superior to having no anaesthesia.

 

[GregCA]

I had one done with an anesthetic, and I can attest that it's not a particularly pleasant experience.

 

[Alper]

Me to with anesthetic and it did HURT!!

 

[Alue]

I had many done with phenol (for the first day then in the open hole for the following two). It's really not that bad.