EMLA versus N2O for analgesia during intravenous cannulation of children in the emergency department

A randomised clinical trial to compare the efficacy of Eutectic Mixture of Local Anaesthetics (EMLA) and nitrous oxide (N2O) in decreasing the pain of intravenous cannulation in children

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12606000121561

Enrollment

100

Registered

2006-04-04

Start date

2005-03-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

IV cannulation can be painful. Both EMLA and nitrous oxide can be used for analgesia, especially in children. We aimed to determine which is better for pain relief in children for this procedure

Interventions

The study participants were randomised to receive EMLA (administered to the skin as standard EMLA patches for a duration of 45 minutes).

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Prevention

Masking

Open (masking not used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

3 Years to 15 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Required IV cannulation or venepuncture.

Exclusion criteria

They were excluded if allergy to EMLA or nitrous oxide, suspected pneumothorax, bowel obstruction or other trapped gas, or if the parent/guardian are non-English speaking. Patients also need to be able to wait at least thirty minutes prior to cannulation.

Outcome results