A comparison of pain and anxiety associated with the administration of maxillary local analgesia with Wand and conventional technique.

AIM: This was to compare the sensation of pain when injections were given using the Wand computer controlled local analgesia (LA) system and a conventional technique in children of pre-school and school age. METHODS: 38 children were randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group. The treatment (Wand) group consisted of 20 children, while the control group (conventional LA technique) consisted of 18 children. The children were aged between 39.0 and 120.0 months with a mean age of 81.9 months (SD- 23.2). One operator carried out all local analgesia administrations. Pain sensation was rated using the VAS scale by the operator, each child and their parent. Anxiety was rated using the Venham scale. RESULTS: No statistical difference in pain sensation and anxiety was found when the Wand was used, compared with the conventional technique (P=0.710, P=0.976). The results also showed no significant difference in anxiety change between males and females in the two groups (P=0.714). CONCLUSION: There was no difference in the pain or anxiety experienced by the children in the conventional and Wand group.