Clinical trial · Interventional
Pain Outcomes Following Intralesional Corticosteroid Injections
The Use of Local Anesthetic in Intralesional Corticosteroid Injections; A Randomized, Double Blind Controlled Trial
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Corticosteroid therapy, including intralesional and topical applications, has many indications within the fields of Dermatology, Plastic Surgery, and Orthopedics. However, these injections can be quite painful, which leads many patients to discontinue treatment. Often, the injection involves a mixture of local anesthetic and corticosteroids despite a lack of evidence that the use of lidocaine improves pain. Due to the acidic pH, the lidocaine component of the injection can actually cause a significant burning sensation during the procedure. Lidocaine does not have anti-inflammatory properties and does not treat the underlying pathology. By including another medication, lidocaine also adds cost and risk to the procedure. The purpose of this study is to see if removing lidocaine from intralesional injections decreases the pain of injection.
Conditions
Conditions (15)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acne | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Alopecia Areata | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Epidermal Inclusion Cyst | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Granuloma Annulare | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Hypertrophic Scar | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Keloid | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Keratoacanthoma | Keratoacanthoma | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.90 |
| Lichen Plano-Pilaris | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corticosteroid with lidocaine | Drug | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Corticosteroid with normal saline | Drug | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- Corticosteroid with lidocaine
- description
- This arm will include an injection mixture of corticosteroid and lidocaine
- interventionNames
- Drug: Corticosteroid with lidocaine
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Corticosteroid with normal saline
- description
- This arm will include a mixture of corticosteroid and normal saline. The purpose of normal saline is to keep the volume and concentration similar when compared to the injections containing lidocaine.
- interventionNames
- Drug: Corticosteroid with normal saline
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Pain Outcome: Visual Analog Scale
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 12 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * \>12 years old presenting with an indication for intralesional steroid injection Exclusion Criteria: * Unconsentable * Not a candidate for corticosteroid injection * Contraindication to lidocaine
References
Publications (1)
- DERIVEDZakria D, Patrinely JR Jr, Dewan AK, Albers SE, Wheless LE, Simmons AN, Drolet BC. Intralesional corticosteroid injections are less painful without local anesthetic: a double-blind, randomized controlled trial. J Dermatolog Treat. 2022 Jun;33(4):2034-2037. doi: 10.1080/09546634.2021.1906842. Epub 2021 Apr 7. PMID 33760691