Application of a topical vapocoolant spray decreases pain at the site of initial intradermal anaesthetic injection during ultrasound-guided breast needle biopsy

AIM: To assess whether the application of a topical vapocoolant spray immediately prior to initial intradermal anaesthetic injection during ultrasound-guided breast biopsy decreases pain at the site of the initial injection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this institutional review board-approved, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant study, 50 women aged 49.1 +/- 1.6 years (mean +/- standard error) were recruited and provided written informed consent. Participants served as their own controls and were blinded as to whether a topical vapocoolant spray or a placebo was used immediately prior to the initial local anaesthetic injection at two separate biopsy sites. With the exception of the application of vapocoolant or placebo, the entire ultrasound-guided procedure was performed according to a routine protocol. Participants recorded pain at initial injection site on a visual analogue scale. General linear mixed models for repeated measures analysis of variance and a 0.05 significance level were used. RESULTS: Application of topical vapocoolant spray was shown to significantly decrease pain at the site of initial intradermal anaesthetic injection as compared to placebo (p<0.001). Treatment effect was independent of age of the subject, race/ethnicity, operator, type of biopsy device, and histopathology result. No complications from vapocoolant spray use were reported. CONCLUSION: Application of a topical vapocoolant spray immediately prior to initial intradermal anaesthetic injection during ultrasound-guided breast biopsy significantly decreases pain at the site of the initial injection and could contribute to improve the patient's overall procedural experience. (C) 2015 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.