Effectiveness of EMLA Cream Local Application vs Placebo for Pain Relief in ESWL - A Prospective Study

Abstract

ESWL is a procedure commonly used for the treatment of urolithiasis. Usage of appropriate agents for analgesia in ESWL is still not standardised and a number of studies have been conducted for this purpose. We attempted to determine whether usage of EMLA cream is effective in ESWL for pain relief. Our study investigated the effectiveness ofEMLA cream alleviates pain in a population of 170 patients divided into two comparable populations, one in which EMLA was used and another with placebo. We inferred that usage of EMLA is very effective for pain management during ESWL with additional benefits of being cost effective, easy application and better patient acceptability.