Percutaneous anaesthesia for some minor surgical procedures.

The anaesthetic effect of four different formulations of ketocaine intended for use in connection with minor surgical excisions in man after epicutaneous application has been studied. Following an introductory pin-pricking study and operations on 60 patients, one of the formulations used has been found clinically preferable to the others. Of 20 patients anaesthetized with this formulation, 16 could be operated without complementary anaesthesia. Because of uncertainty as to the depth of anaesthesia, the described method of anaesthesia is limited in minor surgical excisions to use mainly in relatively superficial operations.