Meatotomy using topical anesthesia: A painless option

Urethral meatotomy is an office procedure often done under local anesthesia with or without penile block or under short general anesthesia. Whatever may be the method, the patient has to bear the pain of injection. To avoid painful injections, in the present study, topical anesthesia in the form of eutectic mixture of prilocaine and lidocaine anesthetics (EMLA/Prilox) has been used to perform such procedures and its effectiveness determined.

A total of 48 consecutive patients with meatal stenosis who attended urology outdoor were enrolled in this study. After exclusion, in 32 patients, 3-4 g of Prilox cream was applied over the glans and occlusive covering was maintained for 45 min before the procedure. Meatotomy was done in a standard manner with hemostat application at the stenosed segment for 2-3 min followed by ventral incision at meatus. The patient's pain perception was measured using visual analog score.

Out of 32, only one patient that had inappropriate application of cream, had a perception of pain during the procedure. Rest all the patient had no discomfort during the procedure. Mean visual analog score was 1.8 which is not a significant percepted pain level. No patient had any major complication.

Use of topical anesthesia in form of Prilox (EMLA) cream for meatotomy is safe and effective method that avoids painful injections and anxiety related to it and should be considered in most of such patients as an alternative of conventional penile blocks or general anesthesia.