In general , active non-invasive anaesthetic methods seemed to provide favourable results compared to placebo or no anaesthesia , and topical anaesthetic drugs and PSF seemed to result in a better pain reduction than skin cooling .
However , the current evidence is insufficient to provide recommendations for daily clinical practice .
Future studies should also evaluate sex differences in pain perception , have uniformity with regard to vali date d pain measurement scales and address clinical ly significant differences in pain reduction besides statistically significant differences
Pain is a common side-effect of dermatological laser procedures .
Non-invasive anaesthetic drugs and anaesthetic procedures can be used to provide pain relief and increase patient satisfaction and treatment efficacy .
However , it remains unclear which method provides the best pain relief .
The objective of this systematic review was therefore to assess the efficacy and safety of non-invasive anaesthetic methods during dermatological laser procedures .
Efficacy of erbium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser-assisted delivery of topical anesthetic.
BACKGROUND Penetration through the stratum corneum limits effectiveness of topical anesthetics . OBJECTIVE Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of 5 % lidocaine ( ELA-Max ) cream applied after erbium : yttrium-aluminum-garnet ( Er : YAG ) laser ablation of the stratum corneum . METHODS R and omized , controlled , split-face comparison of anesthesia was performed on 12 volunteers . The stratum corneum was painlessly ablated with a low-fluence Er : YAG laser on half of the face , then the whole face was covered with ELA-Max cream for 60 minutes . Full-face laser resurfacing was performed , and visual analog pain scores ( 0 to 10 ) were recorded during each of 2 passes . RESULTS Laser-assisted topical anesthesia demonstrated significantly lower mean pain scores than topical anesthesia alone . This was more pronounced during the more painful second pass . Resurfacing after laser-assisted topical anesthesia was well tolerated by 72 % of subjects in pass 1 and 58 % in pass 2 . CONCLUSION Laser-assisted topical anesthesia is fast , painless , and substantially more effective than conventional topical anesthesia but does not provide adequate anesthesia for full-face resurfacing in all subjects
In general , active non-invasive anaesthetic methods seemed to provide favourable results compared to placebo or no anaesthesia , and topical anaesthetic drugs and PSF seemed to result in a better pain reduction than skin cooling .
However , the current evidence is insufficient to provide recommendations for daily clinical practice .
Future studies should also evaluate sex differences in pain perception , have uniformity with regard to vali date d pain measurement scales and address clinical ly significant differences in pain reduction besides statistically significant differences
Pain is a common side-effect of dermatological laser procedures .
Non-invasive anaesthetic drugs and anaesthetic procedures can be used to provide pain relief and increase patient satisfaction and treatment efficacy .
However , it remains unclear which method provides the best pain relief .
The objective of this systematic review was therefore to assess the efficacy and safety of non-invasive anaesthetic methods during dermatological laser procedures .