A safer method for paracervical block in therapeutic abortions.

Adverse reactions to paracervical block, including death, are believed to be dose related. By using a modified jet injector instead of the standard syringe-and-needle technique, we obtained equal analgesia with one fifth of the standard milligram dosage of lidocaine in patients undergoing therapeutic abortion. Blood lidocaine levels as determined by gas chromatography were reduced by two thirds with jet injection. These results led us to conclude that jet injection for paracervical block is safer than the syringe-and-needle technique.