Clinicians have observed that the fear of pain during IUD insertion can be a barrier to the widespread use of this safe and highly effective contraceptive method. Researchers did this study to determine the effectiveness of topical 10% lidocaine sprays for pain control during IUD insertion.
Researchers included a total of two hundred subjects with the request for IUD insertion in the study. They divided the patients randomly divided into two groups: lidocaine spray and placebo. During the procedure, the pain experienced was measured immediately after insertion by a standard VAS administered by a separate researcher to maintain allocation concealment.
The analysis revealed that during the procedure, the mean pain score was 1.01±1.20 in the lidocaine spray group and 3.23±1.60 in the placebo spray group. Lidocaine spray treatment significantly lowered the overall procedural pain score compared with placebo.
The study concluded that significant pain reduction during IUD insertion could be achieved using 10% lidocaine spray alone. Lidocaine spray can be accepted as a non-invasive, easy to apply, and more comfortable local anesthetic method for IUD insertion.
Reference: https://srh.bmj.com/content/42/2/83
