The Role of Topical Anesthetics in the Treatment of Pediatric Facial Lacerations
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Emily Kelly; Adam Jones; Farzad Borumandi
- Source
- Journal of oral and maxillofacial surgery : official journal of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. 79(10)
- Subject
- Epinephrine
medicine.drug_class
Sedation
Single Center
Topical anesthetic
Lacerations
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Tetracaine
medicine
Local anesthetic infiltration
Humans
Anesthetics, Local
Facial lacerations
Child
Local anesthetic
business.industry
Lidocaine
030206 dentistry
Otorhinolaryngology
030220 oncology & carcinogenesis
Anesthesia
Anesthetic
Surgery
Oral Surgery
Service improvement
medicine.symptom
business
medicine.drug
Anesthesia, Local
- Language
- ISSN
- 1531-5053
Purpose Pediatric facial lacerations (PLACS) are a common emergency, often requiring a general anesthetic (GA) or sedation if infiltration of local anesthetic (LA) cannot be tolerated. Topical anesthetics are a well-established and accepted alternative to infiltrations for facial lacerations which can reduce the need for general anesthesia. We report our experience following the introduction of topical 5% cocaine w/v and 1:2000 adrenaline gel (TCA) in a single center. Methods A secondary data analysis of 11 months attendances with PLACS following the introduction of TCA as part of a service improvement project. Results Fifty-three patients had wounds suitable for use of TCA. Twenty-three patients were treated with TCA, 14 with TCA alone and 9 with top-up local anesthetic infiltration (TCA + LA). Fourteen patients were treated using LA alone and 16 underwent GA. No adverse reactions were recorded. Conclusion Topical anesthetics are a safe and effective alternative to infiltration of local anesthetic for PLACS and can be used to avoid the additional risks posed by sedation or GA. We recommend more departments introduce a topical anesthetic for this purpose.