A Comparative Study on Pain Perception in Children, After Application of Pre-Cooled and Plain Topical Anaesthetic Gel During Local Anaesthetic Administration-A Parallel Three-Arm Randomised Control Trial.

Effective pain management in children is essential, particularly when administering local anaesthesia. This study was undertaken to compare pain perception in children after application of pre-cooled and plain topical anaesthetic gel during local anaesthetic administration. : A randomised, single-blinded controlled trial was conducted among 51 children between the ages of 6 and 12, visiting the paediatric clinic, Jazan (REC-45/10/1070). Children were allocated into one of the following three groups using a simple randomisation having a 1:1:1 allocation ratio into Group I ( = 17): Plain topical anaesthetic gel, Group II ( = 17): Pre-Cooled topical anaesthetic gel, and Group III ( = 17). An ice pack was applied for a period of 1 min at the injection site. The intensity of pain and the behaviour of the children were assessed using Face, Leg, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC), the Modified Wong-Baker Scale (WBS) and the Frankel Behaviour Rating Scale (FBRS). : A significant difference in FBRS scores was observed during anaesthesia, with the highest median score [3 (3,3)] in the pre-cooled topical anaesthetic gel group ( value < 0.001). FLACC scores varied significantly among groups, with the ice pack group [3 (3, 3)] and [4 (4, 5)] showing the highest median score ( value < 0.001). WBS scores also differed significantly between groups ( value < 0.001) with a lower value in the pre-cooled topical gel group [0 (0, 0), 2 (0, 2)]. : This study concluded that, the use of a pre-cooled topical anaesthetic gel before LA administration reduced the pain better than that of plain anaesthetic gel and ice pack application at the injection site during infiltration.