2% Lidocaine gel or plain lubricating gel: Which one should be used in male flexible cystoscopy?

To investigate and compare the effects on pain of intraurethral 2% lidocaine gel and plain lubricating gel in male patients underwent flexible cystoscopy.

The data of 220 male patients who underwent flexible cystoscopy between March 2012 and August 2014 were retrospectively analized. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to using intraurethral gel types. Group I included 120 patients who were underwent flexible cystoscopy with 2% lidocaine gel and Group II was consisted from 100 patients who underwent flexible cystoscopy with plain lubricating gel. The groups were compared according to postprocedure data including pain score, procedure time and age of patients.

The mean age of the patients in Group I was 50.02±11.87 years while that in Group II was 52.03±13.37 years (p=0.492). The mean procedure times were 6.02±0.787 and 6.28±0.689 minutes in Group I and Group II respectively (p=0.061). Pain perception scores were not statistically different between the groups (Group I: 3.10±0.980, Group II: 3.34±0.789, p=0.132).

Use of intraurethral 2% lidocaine gel has no advantage over plain lubricating gel in regard to pain control during flexible cystoscopy in men.