Report by Shane Madsen

Checked by Dr Jeffrey S Jones, Research Director

Institution: Grand Rapids MERC/Michigan State University Program in Emergency Medicine

A short-cut review was carried out to establish whether topical anaesthetic agents reduced the pain of lumbar puncture in neonates. A total of 23 papers was found using the reported searches, of which one presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of this paper are tabulated. It is concluded that topical anaesthetic is preferable …