[Efficacy of lidocaine tape for venous cannulation in children]

Abstract

We evaluated whether lidocaine tape (3 X 5 cm, contained 18 mg of lidocaine) could reduce pain caused by venous cannulation in children during anesthetic induction. One hundred and thirty-five children scheduled for elective surgery were randomly assigned to three groups according to the application time of the tape (30 min, 60 min and 120 min). Pain assessment was made by using our pain score (0: no response, 1: slight agitation, 2: strong agitation, at the venous cannulation). The effect of pain reduction (pain score 0 and 1) was found in 81 % of all patients. Especially in the group of 120 min, the effect was remarkable. Only 6.7% of all patients had slight adverse effects including skin redness and itching. In another 25 patients (weighing 3.5-30 kg), plasma concentration of lidocaine were measured 120 min after application of a piece of this tape. Arterial blood was sampled at 30 and 120 min after the tape was removed. Plasma lidocaine levels were always below 0.8 mcg.ml-1 In conclusion, the lidocaine tape may be useful and safely applicable for venous cannulation in children.