Topical anaesthesia before suturing children's minor lacerations: a critical review

Abstract

This paper will critically review all the research carried out over the past 18 years concerning the use of topical anaesthetics for anaesthetizing wounds prior to closure. The review follows guidelines set out by Pollit and Hungler (1995) and Avis (1994) for critiquing research studies, and concentrates on the literature search, research objectives and design, data collection methods, sampling and data analysis.