Comparison of the efficacy of two different local anesthetics in inferior turbinate reduction.

Erol, Ozan; Buyuklu, Fuat

PURPOSE The present study compares the local anesthetic efficacy of EMLA® cream and lidocaine injection used in the radiofrequency reduction of the inferior turbinate. METHODS The study included a total of 124 patients with inferior turbinate hypertrophy and who underwent turbinate reduction under local anesthesia. The operations were performed 15 min after a lidocaine injection and 30 min after EMLA cream application. The respondent patients were asked to interpret such situations as intraoperative pain, discomfort during the procedure, choking sensation and difficulty swallowing using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). RESULTS The EMLA cream patients (Group A) were found to have a lower level of discomfort, choking sensation and difficulty swallowing than the lidocaine patients (Group B), while there was no substantial difference in pain between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS It is concluded that EMLA® cream is an effective alternative to lidocaine injection during inferior turbinate reduction procedures.