Eutectic mixture of Local Anaesthetic (EMLA) an alternative for painful palatal nerve blocks: Randomised controlled trial

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of EMLA to Palatal nerve blocks in providing anaesthesia to the palatal soft tissues during extraction. Seventy patients who reported for extraction of maxillary premolar and maxillary molar tooth were included in this study. These patients were divided into two groups randomly. One group consisted of patients receiving EMLA (Eutectic mixture of Lidocaine and Prilocaine) over the palatal soft tissues adjacent to the tooth with a cotton swab, and the other group consisted of patients receiving 0.4 – 0.6 ml of 2% lignocaine with 1;2,00,000 dilution adrenaline slightly anterior to the greater palatine foramen with a syringe. The mean score VAS while applying EMLA cream in group A was 0.00. In contrast, while giving palatal nerve block in group B, it was 4.09 that was statistically significant using the independent sample t-test. Likewise, the mean VAS score while extraction in the EMLA group was 0.11, whereas in palatal nerve block group was 0.00 that was not statistically significant using independent sample t-test. EMLA may be advantageous in providing palatal soft tissue anaesthesia during prophylactic extraction, thereby avoiding painful palatal nerve blocks.