Satisfactory Results, Less Pain When Surface Anesthesia Used with Thermomechanical Fractional Injury Therapy
FROM ASLMS 2024
Managing Patient Discomfort
Kachiu C. Lee, MD, MPH, of the Main Line Center for Laser Surgery in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, has used the device in her own practice and found that “it can definitely get a little bit uncomfortable for patients,” she said in an interview after the conference.
“I would say that as the doctor, my number one priority is to always make sure my patients are comfortable, especially when treating a sensitive area like the eyes,” added Dr. Lee, who was not involved with the study. “I don’t want them to suddenly jump or move from the discomfort when I have a device right next to their eye. I think that the patient comfort is very important to make sure that we’re managing their discomfort so that the procedure is tolerable.”
She added, “Dr. Garden’s study was effective at showing that surface anesthesia, whether it be with an ice pack 5 minutes before or a topical numbing cream, can be very effective in reducing the pain level while also not interfering with the efficacy of the treatment itself.”
Dr. Garden serves on the medical advisory board for Novoxel, maker of the device. Dr. Lee had no relevant disclosures.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
