A study comparing chloroprocaine with lidocaine for skin infiltration before intravenous catheter insertion

A prospective, double-blind, mixed, crossover study was conducted to determine the perception of pain associated with intradermal lidocaine and chloroprocaine for insertion of an 18-gauge intravenous catheter. A convenience sample of 64 healthy, adult volunteers was used. Each participant received an intradermal injection of lidocaine or chloroprocaine on the dorsum of one hand followed by insertion of an 18-gauge intravenous catheter. The procedure was repeated on the opposite hand with the other anesthetic. Half of the subjects received lidocaine first, and half received chloroprocaine first. Subjects were asked to rate their pain on a 100-mm visual analogue scale immediately after injection of each local anesthetic and immediately after insertion of the catheter. A repeated analysis of variance was used to determine whether there was significant difference in pain associated with the injections and with the insertion of the catheters. There was no significant difference in the amount of pain associated with the intradermal injections (P = .955) or with insertion of an 18-gauge needle (P = .977). Both local anesthetics were effective in reducing pain from the initial injection of the local anesthetics to the insertion of the 18-gauge needle (P = .000).