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Outpatient Surgery Magazine
Date Published:
May 2007 Re: “The Starting Line” (April, page 90)
It never ceases to amaze me how many times patients remark that no one has ever bothered to numb their skin before IV insertion. My routine has evolved from using a 25g needle with plain lidocaine to using a 30g needle with lidocaine buffered with sodium bicarbonate to reduce the sting of the lidocaine. (Plain saline will also suffice.) We also now have the availability of EMLA cream and pressurized, needleless systems.
Barry L. Friedberg, MD
Cosmetic Surgery Anesthesia
Corona del Mar, Calif.
drfriedberg@doctorfriedberg.com
Dr. Friedberg (drfriedberg@doctorfriedberg.com) is the author of the upcoming textbook Anesthesia in Cosmetic Surgery, Minimally Invasive Anesthesia for Minimally Invasive Surgery.