Vapocoolant Spray for Numbing Small Boils Before Incision and Drainage
Status:
Terminated
Trial end date:
2013-08-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Cutaneous abscesses (boils) are collections of pus or infection in the skin, and are a
frequent reason for emergency department visits. The only proven cure for abscesses is
cutting them open and allowing the infection to drain, but this procedure is often painful.
Currently, the usual method of pain control is to inject a numbing medication (lidocaine)
into the site, but this injection itself is often painful and sometimes does not offer full
pain relief. Although there has been some research into the use of non-injected numbing
agents as another option, no studies have looked at the use of numbing sprays (vapocoolant)
in this context specifically. The hypothesis of this study is that numbing spray is as good
as injected numbing medication at relieving pain in patients having small abscesses opened
and drained. This theory will be tested by taking two groups of patients having small
abscesses drained in the Emergency Department, and assigning one group to get a numbing
injection, and the other to get a numbing spray. Their levels of pain and satisfaction will
be recorded before, during, and after the procedure, and the two groups will be compared.