KORRELATION VON EINWIRKZEIT UND WIRKUNG EINER LOKALANASTHETISCHEN EMULSION (EMLA®) BEI KINDERN

In the present study, 105 patients undergoing ophthalmological surgery (average age 6 ± 2 years) were investigated. All of the children received oral premedication comprising 0.4 mg/kgKG midazolam and 0.015 mg/kg atropine. On the day of the operation, 2 g of a lidocaine-prilocaine emulsion (EMLA®) were applied to an area of skin marked off by the anaesthetist for an average of 106 ± 55 min. prior to venipuncture. Within this area of local analgesia a skin vein was punctured with an indwelling cannula. The quality of local analgesia at the site of the puncture, together with the quality of premedication, was evaluated using a standardised scale. In 81% of the cases, the analgesia at the puncture site was judged to be good, and in 13% satisfactory; only 6% of the children indicated pain. Neither age, weight nor quality of premedication showed any significant influence on the local analgesic effect of EMLA®. In contrast, the application duration of the emulsion showed a significant correlation (r = 0.1931, p = 0.026) with the local analgesic effect. Accordingly, the high percentage of problem-free venipuncture is primarily due to the adequate quality of local analgesia.