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document
Efficacy of erbium : yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser-assisted delivery of topical anesthetic . BACKGROUND Penetration through the stratum corneum limits effectiveness of topical anesthetics . OBJECTIVE Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of 5 % lidocaine ( ELA-Max ) cream applied after erbium : yttrium-aluminum-garnet ( Er : YAG ) laser ablation of the stratum corneum . METHODS Randomized , controlled , split-face comparison of anesthesia was performed on 12 volunteers . The stratum corneum was painlessly ablated with a low-fluence Er : YAG laser on half of the face , then the whole face was covered with ELA-Max cream for 60 minutes . Full-face laser resurfacing was performed , and visual analog pain scores ( 0 to 10 ) were recorded during each of 2 passes . RESULTS Laser-assisted topical anesthesia demonstrated significantly lower mean pain scores than topical anesthesia alone . This was more pronounced during the more painful second pass . Resurfacing after laser-assisted topical anesthesia was well tolerated by 72 % of subjects in pass 1 and 58 % in pass 2 . CONCLUSION Laser-assisted topical anesthesia is fast , painless , and substantially more effective than conventional topical anesthesia but does not provide adequate anesthesia for full-face resurfacing in all subjects .
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Intervention_Pharmacological
erbium : yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser-assisted delivery
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Intervention_Pharmacological
5 % lidocaine ( ELA-Max ) cream
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Intervention_Pharmacological
erbium : yttrium-aluminum-garnet ( Er : YAG ) laser ablation
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Intervention_Pharmacological
Er : YAG
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Intervention_Pharmacological
ELA-Max cream
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Intervention_Pharmacological
Laser-assisted topical anesthesia
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Outcome_Other
Efficacy
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Outcome_Pain
visual analog pain scores ( 0 to 10 )
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Outcome_Pain
mean pain scores
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Outcome_Other
tolerated
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Participant_Condition
12 volunteers .