Vapocoolant Spray for Numbing Small Boils Before Incision and Drainage

• Status: Terminated
• Trial end date: 2013-08-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

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.

• Phase: Phase 4
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Albert Einstein Healthcare Network
• Treatments: Anesthetics; Epinephrine; Lidocaine; Norflurane

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Greater than or equal to 18 years old

• Able to consent

• Has cutaneous abscess less than or equal to 2 centimeters requiring incision and drainage in the Emergency Department

Exclusion Criteria:

• Less than 18 years old

• Unable to consent

• Pregnant or breastfeeding

• Prisoner or in police custody

• Known sensitivity to vapocoolant or lidocaine

• Cold hypersensitivity

• Chronic steroid use

• Peripheral neuropathy

• Diabetes

• HIV

• Malignancy

• Immunosuppressive state

• Sickle cell disease

• Sarcoidosis

• Abscess greater than 2 centimeters in any dimension

• Abscess requiring procedural sedation and analgesia for incision and drainage, or further intervention outside the Emergency Department

• Abscess located on the hands, feet, face, or perineal areas

• Pilonidal cyst

• hidradenitis suppurativa

• Not a good candidate per attending physician