Local Anesthetic Effect of Amitriptyline versus Lidocaine in Isolated Lesion of the Limb Requiring Primary Suturing; Assessing a Novel Therapeutic Agent

Abstract

Objective: To compare the anesthetic effects of topical amitriptyline 2% with lidocaine 2% in isolated limb wound repair with suturing.Methods: In a randomized clinical trial, 90 patients with a complaint of isolated ulcer and require a preliminary repair by suturing were selected from patients referred to emergency department of Beast Hospital in Hamadan. First, the scars were washed and anesthetized with lidocaine 2%. If after the peak period effect of lidocaine, the pain score of patients did not decrease, they randomly assigned to two groups, Lidocaine or Amitriptyline gel. After the intervention and during the suturing, the patient's pain score was measured at the intervals specified time by the visual analogous scale (VAS) and results recorded on the checklist. Finally, the collected data were analyzed by SPSS software version 20 at 95% confidence levelResults: In the lidocaine and amitriptyline group, the mean age of the patients was 29.08 and 27.34 years, and male gender frequency was 71.1% and 80% respectively. Both groups were matched for age and sex. Mean score of pain in both groups decreased from the score of 10 before the intervention to 7.33 in the lidocaine group and 0.53 in amitriptyline group. Based on the results of the ANOVA repeated measure test, there was a statistically significant difference between the mean score of pain in the two groups (p<0.001).Conclusion: In patients with isolated limbs ulcers, requiring initial repair with suturing, numbness and analgesia effect of amitriptyline 2% gel, with dose 2 mg/kg is better than lidocaine 2%. Clinical Trial Registry: IRCT20120215009014N216