A comparison of lidocaine versus normal saline for local anesthesia before intravenous cannula insertion

A number of studies have found that one of the leading causes of patient dissatisfaction with nursing care is directly related to the pain associated with the method of IV (intravenous) cannulation. The purpose of this study was to identify which solution, lidocaine hydrochloride 1% (LIDO), normal saline with preservatives (NSP), or normal saline without preservatives (NS), would have the best local anesthetic effect, as reported by patients, for venous cannulation. The research design was a randomized, double-blind study that compared three solutions for their anesthetic effect during initiation of peripheral IV catheters. The sample consisted of 60 (N=60) patients. The setting was in the radiology outpatient department. The Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale was used to measure the amount of pain. Data analysis was completed using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and post hoc Scheffé test (Post-Hoc ANOVA). Findings from this study indicated that LIDO and NSP provided equal anesthetic effects.