Lidocaine-prilocaine cream for local-anesthesia chalazion incision in children.

BACKGROUND

Chalazia are not uncommon in children. If conservative therapy for them fails, incision and drainage are necessary and usually require a general anesthetic, which increases costs and risks.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Five children (3 to 8 years old) had a eutectic mixture of lidocaine and prilocaine applied to the skin of the eyelid for 1 hour. Then local anesthetic was injected into the same site.

RESULTS

The local anesthetic injection was painless, permitting successful incision and drainage in all cases.

CONCLUSION

Lidocaine-prilocaine cream permits local anesthetic injection into the eyelids, facilitating office-based management of chalazia in children.