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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

An Experimental Paradigm for the Prediction of Post-Operative Pain (PPOP)
Published on: January 27, 2010
Does local anesthesia decrease pain perception in women undergoing amniocentesis?
Michael C Gordon1, Ada Ventura-Braswell, Kenneth Higby
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wilford Hall United Stated Air Force Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, TX, USA.
Objective:
The null hypothesis is that local anesthesia does not decrease pain perception during amniocentesis.
Study Design:
We performed a prospective randomized study comparing local anesthesia (1% lidocaine) with no anesthesia before amniocentesis in a racially diverse population. Immediately after the procedure, subjects were asked to assess their pain using both a Visual Analogue Scale and a 101-point Numerical Rating Scale.
Results:
Two hundred four women were enrolled; 101 women received local, 102 women received no local, and 1 woman declined the amniocentesis after randomization. There was no difference in pain perception between the 2 groups as measured by either the visual analogue scale or the numeric rating scale (P = .28 and .18 respectively). The correlation coefficient between the 2 pain scales was strong with 0.86 for the local group and 0.92 for the no local group, (P < .001).
Conclusion:
Administration of local anesthesia before amniocentesis does not decrease maternal pain perception.
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