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 .
Does the clinically significant difference in visual analog scale pain scores vary with gender, age, or cause of pain?
OBJECTIVES To determine the minimum clinical ly significant difference in visual analog scale ( VAS ) pain scores for acute pain in the ED setting and to determine whether this difference varies with gender , age , or cause of pain . METHODS A prospect i ve , descriptive study of 152 adult patients presenting to the ED with acute pain . At presentation and at 20-minute intervals to a maximum of three measurements , patients marked the level of their pain on a 100-mm , nonhatched VAS . At each follow-up they also gave a verbal rating of their pain as " a lot better , " " much the same , " " a little worse , " or " much worse . " The minimum clinical ly significant difference in VAS pain scores was defined as the mean difference between current and preceding scores when pain was reported as a little worse or a little better . Data were compared based on gender , age more than or less than 50 years , and traumatic vs nontraumatic causes of pain . RESULTS The minimum clinical ly significant difference in VAS pain scores is 9 mm ( 95 % CI , 6 to 13 mm ) . There is no statistically significant difference between the minimum clinical ly significant differences in VAS pain scores based on gender ( p=0.172 ) , age ( p=0.782 ) , or cause of pain ( p=0.84 ) . CONCLUSIONS The minimum clinical ly significant difference in VAS pain scores was found to be 9 mm . Differences of less than this amount , even if statistically significant , are unlikely to be of clinical significance . No significant difference in minimum significant VAS scores was found between gender , age , and cause-of-pain groups
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 .