A Systematic Review of Lidocaine-Prilocaine Cream (EMLA) in the

Treatment of Acute Pain in Neonates

Anna Taddio, BScPhm, PhD*; Arne Ohlsson, MD, MSc, FRCPC‡; Thomas R. Einarson, PhD*;
Bonnie Stevens, RN, PhD§; and Gideon Koren, MD, FRCPCi

ABSTRACT. Objective. Neonates routinely undergo infants in the control group. Facial grimacing, assessed in
painful cutaneous procedures as part of their medical two of the studies, was also significantly lower in the
treatment. Lidocaine-prilocaine 5% cream (EMLA) is a EMLA group. Using meta-analytic techniques, the heart
topical anesthetic that may be useful for diminishing the rate outcome data for two studies was summarized. In-
pain from these procedures. EMLA is routinely used in creases in heart rate compared with baseline values were
children and adults. There is substantial apprehension 12 to 27 beats per minute less for the EMLA group than in
about its use in neonates because of concerns that it may the placebo group during various stages of the surgical
cause methemoglobinemia. The objective of this review procedure. Three studies that investigated the pain from
was to determine the efficacy and safety of EMLA as an heel lancing were randomized controlled trials; the other
analgesic for procedural pain treatment in neonates and was a nonrandomized controlled study. None demon-
provide evidence-based recommendations for clinical strated a significant benefit of EMLA for any of the
practice. outcome measures used to assess pain (ie, behavioral
Methods. Systematic review techniques were used. pain scores, infant crying, heart rate, blood pressure,
Studies were identified using manual and computer- respiratory rate, oxygenation parameters). One random-
aided searches (Medline, EMBASE, Reference Update, ized controlled study of the pain from venipuncture
personal files, scientific meeting proceedings). Behav- showed that infants treated with EMLA had significantly
ioral (eg, facial action, crying) and physiologic (eg, heart lower heart rates and cry duration compared with infants
rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, respiratory rate) treated with a placebo. In one nonrandomized study, a
outcome data from prospective nonrandomized con- significantly lower behavioral pain score was observed
trolled studies and randomized controlled trials in full- for infants treated with EMLA compared with the control
term and preterm neonates were accepted for inclusion to group. Infant heart rate, however, did not differ between
establish efficacy of EMLA. The risk of methemoglobin- the groups. In one randomized controlled study of pain
emia (defined as methemoglobin concentration >5% and from percutaneous venous catheter placement, EMLA
requiring medical intervention) was estimated from all resulted in a significantly lower increase in heart rate and
prospective studies. respiratory rate. Behavioral pain scores were signifi-
Results. Eleven studies of the efficacy of EMLA were cantly lower during arterial puncture in one nonrandom-
included in the analysis. Infant gestational age at the ized controlled study. EMLA did not reduce physiologic
time of delivery ranged from 26 weeks to full-term. Two changes or behavioral pain scores in one randomized
studies included data from both neonates and older in- controlled trial in infants undergoing lumbar puncture.
fants. The following procedures were studied: circumci- Meta-analytic techniques revealed that methemoglobin
sion (n 5 3), heel lancing (n 5 4), venipuncture (n 5 1), concentrations did not differ between EMLA-treated and
venipuncture and arterial puncture (n 5 1), lumbar punc-
placebo-treated infants (weighted mean difference,
ture (n 5 1), and percutaneous venous catheter placement
20.11%; 95% confidence interval, 20.31% to 0.10%). The
(n 5 1). Nine studies were randomized controlled trials.
incidence of clinically important methemoglobinemia
The total sample size for each study ranged from 13 to
from all prospective studies was 0% (95% confidence
110 neonates. The dose of EMLA used was 0.5 g to 2 g in
interval, 0.0% to 0.2%). There was insufficient data to
9 studies, and was not specified in the others. The dura-
assess the risk with multiple doses of EMLA. Four stud-
tion of application ranged from 10 minutes to 3 hours.
ies measured concentrations of lidocaine in the plasma of
The three studies that investigated the efficacy of EMLA
for decreasing the pain of circumcision used a random- neonates who had been treated with EMLA. In all cases,
ized controlled trial design. All of them demonstrated concentrations were <0.3 mg/mL. Three studies that mea-
significantly reduced crying time during the procedure sured prilocaine detected <0.1 mg/mL.
in the infants in the EMLA group compared with the Conclusions. EMLA diminishes pain during circum-
cision. It may also diminish the pain from venipuncture,
arterial puncture, and percutaneous venous catheter
From the *Department of Paediatrics, Hospital for Sick Children and Fac- placement; however, efficacy data for these procedures
ulty of Pharmacy; the ‡Department of Newborn and Developmental Pae- are limited. EMLA does not diminish the pain from heel
diatrics, Women’s College Hospital and Faculty of Medicine; the §Faculties lancing. Based on available data, EMLA is recommended
of Nursing and Medicine; and the iDepartment of Paediatrics, Hospital for for the treatment of pain from circumcision but not heel
Sick Children and Faculties of Pharmacy and Medicine, University of To- lance. There is insufficient data to recommend its use for
ronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. other procedures. Single doses do not cause methemo-
Received for publication May 28, 1997; accepted Oct 6, 1997.
globinemia. Additional research is recommended in ne-
Reprint requests to (A.T.) Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicol-
ogy, Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, onates before EMLA is used routinely for procedures
Canada M5G 1X8. other than circumcision and to determine the safety of
PEDIATRICS (ISSN 0031 4005). Copyright © 1998 by the American Acad- repeated administration. Pediatrics 1998;101(2). URL:
emy of Pediatrics. http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/101/2/e1; sys-

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tematic review, meta-analysis, lidocaine-prilocaine evaluate the efficacy and safety of EMLA as an an-
cream, pain, infant-newborn. algesic for procedural pain in neonates, to provide
evidence-based recommendations for clinical prac-
ABBREVIATIONS. LP, lumbar puncture; PVC, percutaneous ve- tice and to identify areas for future research.
nous catheter; EMLA, lidocaine-prilocaine 5% cream; GA, gesta-
tional age; HR, heart rate; RR, respiratory rate; BP, blood pressure; METHODS
O2, oxygen; SD, standard deviation; PIPP, Premature Infant Pain Literature Search
Profile; CI, confidence interval; MetHb, methemoglobin; NFCS,
Neonatal Facial Coding System. Medline was searched for relevant articles published from Jan-
uary 1, 1966 to December 31, 1996; EMBASE from 1993 to 1996;
and Reference Update from January 1, 1995 to December 1, 1996

H
ospitalized full-term and preterm neonates with the following MeSH terms or text words: “infant-newborn,
pain, analgesia, anesthesia, EMLA, lidocaine-prilocaine, local an-
routinely undergo tissue-damaging inter- esthetics.” In addition, manual searches of bibliographies, per-
ventions as part of their medical treatment. sonal files, scientific meeting proceedings, and recent issues of key
The skin is the site of noxious stimulation for many journals were performed. Language restrictions were not applied.
procedures, including heel lancing, venipuncture, ar- Attempts were made to obtain additional data from investigators
of published studies.
terial puncture, lumbar puncture (LP), and percuta-
neous venous catheter (PVC) placement. These cuta- Inclusion Criteria
neous procedures are frequently repeated in many Only reports with information on neonates (for this study
patients as necessitated by their clinical conditions. defined as up to 1 month of age) were included. All randomized
Analgesics are not routinely administered in clinical controlled trials and cohort (nonrandomized) studies that in-
practice because of the relatively short duration of cluded a placebo/unexposed group were included for the deter-
the intervention, perceived lack of importance of the mination of efficacy. Trials of different designs, however, were
handled separately. The efficacy of EMLA was reviewed for the
pain, and concerns of toxicity from currently avail- following procedures: circumcision, heel lancing, PVC insertion,
able agents. This practice is being questioned by LP, and venous/arterial puncture. Because neonates respond to
recent evidence that neonates are capable of both noxious stimuli with behavioral, physiologic, hormonal, and met-
perceiving and exhibiting reproducible responses to abolic changes, all prospective studies that reported data on any of
these variables were included. Experimental pain procedures,
noxious stimulation. The immediate pain response is such as the measurement of pain thresholds using von Frey hairs,
complex, involving behavioral changes such as facial and case reports were excluded from the analysis. Two investiga-
grimacing and body movements, as well as physio- tors (A.T., A.O.) agreed through a consensus process on the in-
logic, metabolic, and hormonal changes. Preliminary clusion of a specific study. For the determination of safety, all
data suggest that pain may have long-term effects in prospective studies were included. Clinically important methemo-
globinemia, defined as a MetHb concentration .5% and requiring
neonates such as pain memories.1,2 medical intervention, was the main focus for adverse effects.
EMLA 5% cream (eutectic mixture of local anes-
thetics, lidocaine and prilocaine; Astra Pharma, Inc, Data Abstraction
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) is a topical anesthetic Data abstracted from each report included the procedure stud-
used in children and adults to diminish pain from ied, study design, gestational age (GA), sample size, dosage reg-
cutaneous procedures. EMLA represents a therapeu- imen, control group treatment, and outcomes. Abstracted data
were verified by two investigators (A.T., A.O.).
tic breakthrough as it is the first topical anesthetic
preparation that penetrates intact skin to provide Statistical Methods
reliable anesthesia. The usual dose for children and
A priori, a decision was made that if there were at least 2
adults is 1 g to 2 g applied under an occlusive dress- randomized controlled trials that evaluated the efficacy of EMLA
ing for approximately 1 hour before the procedure. for the same procedure and using the same outcome measures,
The efficacy of EMLA for treatment of procedural study results would be pooled using a random effects model for
pain in children and adults is well established. In weighted mean differences to obtain an overall estimate of effect
size. The overall difference in MetHb concentration between
neonates, however, there has been no systematic groups would be combined using the same method. The risk of
evaluation of its efficacy. There has been no evalua- methemoglobinemia would be estimated by determining the in-
tion of the risk of serious adverse effects. In children cidence and 95% confidence interval (CI) from the data provided
and adults, adverse effects are limited to transient in each prospective report.
local skin reactions such as blanching and redness.
RESULTS
There is substantial apprehension about using EMLA
in neonates because of the potential risk of methe- Efficacy Studies
moglobinemia from prilocaine metabolites that can Thirteen studies that assessed the efficacy of
oxidize hemoglobin. As compared with children and EMLA in reducing pain in a total of 662 neonates
adults, neonates are believed to be at increased risk were retrieved.5–17 Two studies were excluded; 1 be-
of methemoglobinemia. Neonates have a deficiency cause an experimental procedure was used to mea-
in the enzyme that reduces methemoglobin (MetHb), sure pain threshold,5 and another because it did not
NADH cytochrome b5 reductase.3 In addition, the include a control/no treatment group.6 Thus, 11
higher body surface area to weight ratio in infants studies were used for the analysis. The characteris-
may result in higher systemic exposure from the tics of included studies are summarized in Table 1.
same dose relative to adults. Preterm infants may be The pain response of infants undergoing the follow-
at even greater risk of toxicity because of immaturity ing cutaneous procedures was investigated: circum-
in skin barrier properties4 that enhances percutane- cision, heel lancing, LP, PVC placement, venous
ous absorption of drugs. puncture, and arterial puncture. Nine of the studies
The purpose of this review was to systematically were randomized controlled trials with sample sizes

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TABLE 1. Efficacy Studies of EMLA for Procedural Pain in Neonates
Reference Procedure Study* Sample Dosage Regimen Gestational
Design Size Age at
Birth (wk)
Taddio8 Circumcision db, p, r, pc 59 1 g for 60–80 min 37–42
Benini7 Circumcision p, r, pc 27 0.5 g for 45–65 min 37–42
Lander9 Circumcision† p, r, c 52 2 g for 90 min Full-term
Larsson11 Heel lancing db, p, r, pc 110 0.5 g for 10–120 min 37–43
Ramaioli10 Heel lancing† p, r, pc 20 0.5 g (51 cm) for 30 min 29–36
Stevens12 Heel lancing† p, r, pc 60 0.5 g for 30 min 30–36
McIntosh13 Heel lancing p, c 35 nr‡ for 60 min 26–34
Lindh17 Venipuncture† db, p, r, pc 60 nr‡ for 60 min Full-term
Gourrier16 Venipuncture p, c 67§ $2 kg: 1/4 tube 26–41
('0.5 g)
,2 kg: nr‡ for 60–180 min
Gourrier16 Arterial puncture p, c 90§ $2 kg: 1/4 tube 26–41
('0.5 g)
,2 kg: nr‡ for 60–180 min
Enad14 Lumbar puncture† p, r, pc 49 1 g for 60 min $34
Garcia15 Percutaneous venous p, r, pc 13 1.25 g for 60 min Very low birth
catheter placement† weight
* db, double-blind; p, prospective; r, random, pc, placebo controlled; c, controlled (no treatment group).
† Published in abstract form only.
‡ nr, not reported.
§ Number of procedures (not infants) tested.

ranging from 13 to 110 infants. GA at the time of trols, but the difference did not reach statistical sig-
delivery was provided in 8 reports, and ranged from nificance.
26 to 43 weeks. Two studies that included data from
both neonates and older infants were included.13,16 Randomized Controlled Studies
The dose of EMLA used was 0.5 to 2 g in 9 studies, Benini et al7 administered 0.5 g of EMLA or petro-
and was not specified in two studies. The duration of latum jelly placebo for 45 to 65 minutes before cir-
application ranged from 10 minutes to 3 hours. Out- cumcision. For all outcome measures [HR, transcu-
come measures included behavioral (facial action, taneous O2 saturation, cry duration, facial action
body action, cry) and physiologic [heart rate (HR), (scored using NFCS)],18 EMLA was associated with a
respiratory rate (RR), blood pressure (BP), and oxy- significantly (P , .05) reduced response compared
gen (O2) saturation] parameters. Data from individ- with placebo during the painful phases of the proce-
ual studies could not be combined using meta-ana- dure (eg, clamping, incision of foreskin, lysis, and
lytic techniques because of a wide variability in application of Gomco [Gomco, St Louis, MO] clamp).
procedures, dosage regimens, outcome measures, The average HR for the EMLA group compared with
and reporting of results. There was only one excep- the control group was 25 beats per minute less and
tion: two studies of circumcision pain7,8 (see below) the average O2 saturation was 5% higher. Twenty
that used similar outcome measures were combined. percent less facial activity and 15% less crying was
Because of the diversity among studies, the results also observed in the EMLA-treated infants. Cry fea-
are reported according to procedure investigated. tures such as maximum fundamental frequency,
peak spectral energy, and dysphonation, however,
Procedure 1. Circumcision were not significantly different between groups.
The efficacy of EMLA for the treatment of circum- Lander et al9 studied the efficacy of 2 g of EMLA
cision pain was investigated in three studies that applied for 90 minutes before circumcision. Infants
included a total of 138 neonates (Table 1). were randomized to four groups: no treatment,
EMLA, dorsal penile nerve block, or penile ring
Double-blind Randomized Controlled Study block. Although the EMLA group had a lower mean
Taddio et al8 randomly assigned neonates to 1 g of HR during foreskin retraction than did the no treat-
EMLA or a cosmetically identical placebo cream on ment group (169 vs 200 beats per minute), HR values
the outside of the prepuce for 60 to 80 minutes before were even lower for the two block groups (151 beats
circumcision. Infants pretreated with EMLA had per minute). Investigators did not report the stan-
lower (P , .05) facial action pain scores [assessed dard deviation (SD) and P values among treatment
using the Neonatal Facial Coding System (NFCS)],18 groups. Infants in all three intervention groups cried
percent crying time, and HR during surgery as com- significantly less than those in the no treatment
pared with placebo. Facial activity scores were 12% group (data and P values were not provided).
to 49% lower during various stages of the procedure.
The average difference in percentage crying and HR Meta-analysis of Efficacy of EMLA for Circumcision
between the groups compared with baseline values, Meta-analytic techniques were used to summarize
was 55% and 10 beats per minute, respectively. BP the HR outcome data for two studies of circumcision
was lower in the EMLA group compared with con- pain.7,8 The mean increase in HR (ie, compared with

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baseline values) was 12 to 27 beats per minute less cators: brow bulge, eye squeezed shut, nasolabial
for the EMLA group compared with placebo during furrow, O2 saturation, HR, GA, and infant behavioral
various stages of the surgical procedure (P , .05) state. No statistically significant differences between
(Table 2). groups were reported; the mean (SD) PIPP score was
10.2 (4.1) in the EMLA group and 9.5 (4.0) in the
Procedure 2. Heel Lancing placebo group (P 5 .48).
Pain from heel lancing was investigated in 4 stud-
ies involving a total of 225 neonates (Table 1). Nonrandomized Controlled Study
McIntosh et al13 used a prospective, nonrandom-
Double-blind Randomized Controlled Study ized, nonblinded study design to evaluate the effect
Larsson et al11 used a randomized double-blind of EMLA in pain from heel lance. EMLA was admin-
design and allocated 112 3-day-old, full-term neo- istered to 21 preterm neonates (7 to 35 days old) for
nates to eight different application time groups (10, 1 hour before heel lancing. The dose of EMLA, how-
20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120 minutes) after 0.5 g of EMLA ever, was not specified. A dummy period preceded
or a cosmetically identical placebo cream. Each ran- the administration of EMLA in all cases that mim-
domization group included 7 infants treated with icked the procedure in all aspects except that the heel
EMLA and 7 infants treated with placebo. The pri- was not lanced. Neonatal response to the real heel
mary outcome measure was the occurrence of crying lancing with EMLA was then compared with the
during the procedure. Fifty-four of the 56 neonates dummy period. The outcome measures included HR,
(96%) that received EMLA cried compared with 52 RR, trancutaneous O2 tension, and carbon dioxide
out of 54 neonates (96%) that received placebo, tension. Pretreatment with EMLA was associated
which was not significantly different. with a significant increase in HR (mean difference, 8;
CI, 2 to 14), HR variability (mean difference, 9; CI, 4
Randomized Controlled Study to 12), and transcutaneous O2 tension variability
Ramaioli et al10 randomly assigned preterm neo- (mean difference, 0.3; CI, 0.1 to 0.6). There also was a
nates to 1 cm (50.5 g) of EMLA or placebo (glycerin) trend toward an increase in carbon dioxide tension
to the heel for 30 minutes before heel lancing. Pain variability (P 5 .053). Other interventions that were
was assessed using changes in HR, BP, RR, and tested in the same trial included use of a spring-
behavior (on the Prechtl scale). Five serial assess- loaded heel lancing device and nursing comfort mea-
ments were made for each subject. These assess- sures (stroking and vocal reassurance during the
ments were made 3 minutes before the heel lance, at procedure). Unlike EMLA, both of these nonpharma-
the start of sampling, at the end of sampling, and at cologic interventions did not significantly alter phys-
3 minutes and 8 minutes after sampling. Investiga- iologic changes during heel lancing when compared
tors did not report any statistically significant differ- with the dummy period. This study suggests that
ences between groups for any of the outcome mea- EMLA did not diminish the pain from heel lancing.
sures. Within groups, systolic BP was higher at the Taken together, none of the studies evaluating
end of sampling when compared with 3 and 8 min- EMLA for heel lancing pain showed a significant
utes after sampling (P 5 .01). benefit from the drug on infant pain.
In a study by Stevens et al12 involving 60 preterm
neonates 30 to 36 weeks GA, neonates randomly Procedure 3. Venipuncture
received 0.5 g of EMLA or Glaxal base placebo for 30 The efficacy of EMLA for decreasing pain from
minutes before heel lancing. Pain was assessed by a venipuncture was assessed in two studies involving
blinded observer from a videotape and computer- 127 procedures (Table 1).
ized physiologic data using the Premature Infant
Pain Profile (PIPP).19 The PIPP score is derived by Double-blind Randomized Controlled Study
summing the pain scores obtained from seven indi- Lindh et al17 used a double-blind design to assess
the efficacy of EMLA for decreasing pain during
venipuncture in healthy 3-day-old neonates. Sixty
TABLE 2. Meta-analysis Results for Heart Rate Changes Dur-
ing Circumcision* neonates were administered either EMLA or a pla-
cebo (constituents not identified) for 1 hour before
Stage of Procedure Weighted Mean Difference in Heart venipuncture. Investigators reported that HR and
Rate† (95% CI)
cry duration favored the EMLA-treated group, how-
Forceps application 212.27 (238.63, 14.09) ever, no data (or significance levels) were provided.
Lysis of adhesions 212.42 (220.34, 24.49) In addition, the dose of EMLA was not specified.
Dorsal incision 226.92 (237.78, 216.07)
Application of clamp 227.21 (235.98, 218.45)
Foreskin cutting 212.05 (220.84, 23.26) Nonrandomized Controlled Study
Removal of clamp 211.67 (219.93, 23.42) Gourrier et al16 used a cohort design to evaluate
* Based on data from Benini et al7 and Taddio et al.8 the effectiveness of EMLA for venous and arterial
† The mean increase in heart rate (6SD) from baseline was calcu- puncture in preterm neonates aged 1 to 64 days
lated for each treatment group. Then the weighted mean differ- (Table 1). Neonates $2 kg received one quarter of a
ence in heart rate between EMLA and placebo groups with 95% tube of EMLA (equivalent to '0.5 g); neonates ,2 kg
confidence intervals (CI) was calculated for each of the stages of
the circumcision using the statistical program included in Revman received less, although the exact dose was not spec-
3.0 using a random effects model. A CI that does not include the ified. EMLA was applied for 1 to 3 hours before the
value 0 indicates a significant finding at the ,.05 level. procedure. The median duration of application was

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105 minutes. Pain was assessed using a behavioral Procedure 5. Lumbar Puncture
pain scale developed by the investigators. The vari- Randomized Controlled Study
ables on the scale were infant arousal, expression, The efficacy of EMLA in alleviating the pain from
and agitation; the total score ranges from 0 to 5. Pain LP was investigated in one study (Table 1). Enad et
scores were graded by a blinded observer and com- al14 randomly assigned neonates to 1 g of EMLA or
pared when EMLA was used and when it was not. placebo (identity not provided) for 1 hour before LP.
Altogether, 116 infants who received 157 skin punc- Physiologic parameters (BP, HR, O2 saturation) and
tures were included. EMLA was utilized for 120 behavioral response (scored from 0 to 3) were as-
punctures. In 54 cases, EMLA was applied before sessed by a blinded observer before, during, and 5
venipuncture. No intervention was administered for minutes after LP. Percent change from baseline val-
the remaining 37 punctures, 13 of which were veni- ues during and after LP did not differ between
punctures. groups for physiologic parameters (P . .09) and
Although it may have been preferable to analyze behavioral scores (P . .25). The results suggest that
data using a rank test, investigators divided pain EMLA is ineffective for the treatment of pain from
scores into two categories for analysis according to LP. Of note, the nature of the behavioral pain mea-
severity: mild, 0 to 2 and severe, 3 to 5. Ninety-four sure and the observed values were not provided in
neonates (72 in the EMLA group) who had baseline the report.
pain scores of 0 or 1 were included in the analysis. Of
these, 33 were treated with EMLA and 6 received no Procedure 6. PVC Placement
treatment before venipuncture. The remainder (39 in
the EMLA group and 16 in the control group) un- Randomized Controlled Study
derwent arterial puncture. When all 74 cases were EMLA was tested for decreasing the pain from
included in the analysis, pretreatment with EMLA PVC placement in one study (Table 1). Garcia et al15
was associated with a higher frequency of low pain randomly assigned very low birth weight infants to
scores (57%) than the controls (18%) (P , .001). The 1.25 g of EMLA or zinc oxide placebo for 1 hour
frequency of low pain scores when venous stabs before PVC placement. Pain response was measured
were administered was 78.8% in the EMLA group. by a blinded observer using serial HR, RR, BP, and
The frequency of low pain scores in the control O2 saturation measurements obtained before and 3,
group was not provided. Application times of .90 5, and 60 minutes after skin puncture. HR was sig-
minutes were more efficacious than shorter duration nificantly lower for the EMLA-treated neonates com-
times (P , .001).16 pared with controls at all times during the procedure
Unpublished data obtained by the investigators (P , .05). RR response was attenuated in the EMLA
revealed a mean (6SD) behavioral pain score of 2.43 group during skin puncture only. BP and O2 satura-
(0.46) in the EMLA-treated group (n 5 51) compared tion were not significantly altered in either group
with 3.58 (0.82) in the control group (n 5 12) (P , during the procedure. EMLA was therefore shown to
.05). Infant HR was analyzed in 49 infants: 39 were attenuate HR and RR increases during PVC place-
treated with EMLA. The HR was 158.5 (6.5) in the ment but not BP and O2 saturation. Investigators did
EMLA group versus 163.8 (12.1) in the control group not provide values for HR, RR, BP, and O2 saturation
(P . .05). values for the two treatment groups.
Together, these data suggest that EMLA decreases
the pain from venipuncture. Safety Studies
MetHb concentrations were measured in 12 stud-
ies.6,8 –10,14,15,20 –25 One study that included data from
Procedure 4. Arterial Puncture
infants aged 0 to 3 months was included.20 The char-
Nonrandomized Controlled Study acteristics of each study including sample size, GA of
In the study by Gourrier et al16 (described above), infants, dose of EMLA, duration of exposure, timing
the frequency of low pain scores when arterial stabs of samples, and MetHb concentrations is provided in
were administered was 41% compared with 12.5% in Table 3. MetHb concentrations were compared in
the control group (P , .05). infants before and after exposure to EMLA, or be-
Unpublished data obtained by the investigators tween infants exposed to EMLA and placebo or no
revealed a mean (6SD) behavioral pain score of 3.13 treatment with no statistically significant differences
(0.42) in the EMLA-treated group (n 5 63) compared in 7 studies.8,10,14,15,20 –23 Meta-analytic techniques
with 3.96 (0.45) in the control group (n 5 23) (P , could be used to combine the data from 4 random-
.05). Mean HR was 166 (4.6) in the EMLA group (n 5 ized controlled studies.8,10,21,23 The results revealed
59) versus 164.8 (6.4) in the control group (n 5 21) that mean MetHb concentrations did not differ be-
(P . .05). O2 saturation was evaluated in a total of 25 tween EMLA-treated and placebo-treated infants
infants: 19 received EMLA. The O2 saturation was (weighted mean difference, 20.11%; 95% CI, 20.31%
92.8% (1.9) in the EMLA group versus 94% (2.5) in to 0.10%).
the control group (P . .05). The lack of clinically important methemoglobin-
The lower pain scores observed in the group who emia after administration of repeated doses of EMLA
received EMLA before venipuncture suggests that was reported in two studies. During a 2-year study
EMLA is more successful for venous stabs than ar- period, Gourrier and colleagues25,26 administered a
terial stabs and that venous stabs are not as painful mean of 3.2 doses of EMLA to 500 infants (GA, 26 to
as arterial stabs. 41 weeks; postnatal age, #3 months). One hundred

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TABLE 3. Safety Studies With EMLA in Neonates
Reference Procedure Gestational Number Dosage Regimen Sampling %
Age at Exposed Time (h) MetHb*
Birth (wk) (mean, SD)
Law24 Circumcision 35–41 10 1.0 g for 60–80 min 8 0.44 (0.53)
Taddio8 Circumcision 37–42 38 1.0 g for 60 min 1–18 1.3 (0.6)
Lander9 Circumcision† Full-term 13 2.0 g for 90 min nr‡ (range, 0–4.5)
Ramaioli10 Heel lancing† 29–36 10 0.5 g (51 cm) for 30 min 0.5 0.6 (0.2)
Ramaioli20 Heel lancing† Full-term 15 1 g for 30 min 0.5 0.85 (0.2)
Taddio23 Heel lancing† 30–37 26 0.5 g for 30 min 8 1.3 (0.5)
Taddio22 Heel lancing 30–37 30 0.5 g for 60 min 4–12 1.3 (0.3)
Enad14 Lumbar puncture† $34 nr‡ 1.0 g for 60 min 4 0.85 (0.84)
Garcia15 Percutaneous Very low 7 1.25 g for 60 min nr‡ (range, 0.3–2.0)
venous catheter birth weight
placement†
Andreasson20 Venipuncture† Full-term nr‡ 1 g for 60–70 min 0.5–18 (range, 0.5–2.5)
(0–3 months)
Rubio 6
Needle insertion† 29 6 2.5 48 0.5–1 g for 30–40 min 8 0.68 (0.55)
Gourrier25,26 nr‡ 26–41 158 $2 kg: 1/4 tube ('0.5 g) nr‡ (range, 0.4–6.2)
,2 kg: nr‡ for 60–180 min
* MetHb levels were reported as a percentage of hemoglobin in all studies. The mean (SD) or range, is reported.
† Published in abstract form only.
‡ nr, not reported.

fifty-eight follow-up MetHb concentrations were ob- tiple exposures) was computed to calculate the over-
tained. In 119 cases, the sample was obtained any all incidence of clinically important methemoglobin-
time after a delay of 24 hours from the first dose, and emia from EMLA. For the study by Fitzgerald,5 each
in the remaining 39 cases, the sample was obtained 2 neonate was included only once even though re-
hours after the first dose of EMLA. The maximum peated applications of EMLA were administered be-
daily dose of EMLA was reported to be one applica- cause the number of applications was not specified.
tion of 0.5 g for 1.5 to 3 hours in full-term newborns In the studies by Enad14 and Lindh,17 the number of
and a smaller quantity (unspecified) in preterm in- infants treated with EMLA was not provided and it
fants. Earlier reports by the same investigators16 in- was assumed that 50% were treated with EMLA. The
dicate that one quarter of a tube of EMLA cream study by Andreasson20 could not be included be-
(equivalent to 1.25 g) was used per dose in full-term cause neither the total or group sample sizes were
infants. Clarification of the dose with investigators specified. The incidence of clinically significant met-
revealed that 0.5 g is closer to the actual dose used. hemoglobinemia from all exposures to EMLA,
The MetHb concentrations were #5% for 97.5% of whether single dose or multiple dose, was 0% (95%
cases. Concentrations were .5% on 3 occasions; the CI, 0% to 0.2%). If the analysis was repeated includ-
maximum observed concentration was 6.2%. No clin- ing only those cases in which MetHb concentrations
ically important cases of methemoglobinemia were were measured and found to be .5% and clinical
observed, that is, none required medical interven- signs of methemoglobinemia were present, then the
tion. Elevated MetHb concentrations were believed incidence was still 0% (95% CI, 0% to 1.00%).
to have been attributable to the influence of repeated The analysis was repeated using MetHb concen-
administration of EMLA, although the interval be- tration .5% to define methemoglobinemia. The cal-
tween doses was not provided, and/or the influence culated overall incidence was 0.79% (95% CI, 0.27%
of anemia as MetHb concentrations were expressed to 2.30%) for all neonates. The risk was 0% (95% CI,
as a percentage of hemoglobin. In the cases in which 0% to 3.21%) for full-term neonates and 1.14% (95%
anemia was present, MetHb concentrations de- CI, 0.39% to 3.29%) for preterm neonates. There was
creased after administration of blood transfusions. insufficient data to calculate the risk of methemoglo-
Fitzgerald et al5 studied 7 neonates 27- to 32-weeks binemia after repeated administration.
postmenstrual age. An unspecified small amount of Two case reports of methemoglobinemia after ap-
cream was rubbed onto the heel (without an occlu- plication of EMLA in neonates were retrieved. In the
sive dressing) 4-hourly for a period of 1 to 4 weeks. first case, a 34-week GA, 1385 g, 5-day-old neonate
Although the dose used was not specified, the tube with sepsis had been treated with two simultaneous
of cream (5 g) was reported to last 2 weeks. Thus, a applications of EMLA, one for central line placement
daily dose of approximately 0.36 g was used, or and one for LP.27 The total application time was 3
0.06 g per dose. No clinical observations of methe- hours. The amount of cream applied was not pro-
moglobinemia or other adverse effects were re- vided in the report. The observed MetHb concentra-
ported, although MetHb concentrations were not tion was 12.6%. Methemoglobinemia was reversed
measured. with methylene blue and no long-term sequelae were
The ratio of cases of clinically important methemo- reported. In the second case, a full-term, 2-day-old
globinemia (MetHb .5% and clinical signs requiring neonate received 3.5 g of EMLA for 60 minutes on
treatment with methylene blue) to total number of the outside of the prepuce before circumcision.28 The
exposures from all published reports (including mul- infant was noted to be cyanotic and a MetHb con-

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centration obtained after circumcision was 16%. The demonstrated that EMLA diminishes pain response
infant was treated with 100% O2 until the following during circumcision. Two studies, one of which was
day. A follow-up MetHb concentration was ,2.1%. a double blind randomized controlled trial, demon-
The incidence of minor skin reactions after EMLA strated efficacy for decreasing venipuncture pain.
was reported in 5 studies. Taddio et al22 reported EMLA was not shown to diminish pain from heel
blanching in 20% (6/30) of neonates who received lancing in randomized and nonrandomized designs.
EMLA on the heel, and 30% of those who received it A single randomized controlled study demonstrated
on the penis and abdomen.8 Larsson et al11 observed some efficacy for PVC placement but not LP. A non-
blanching and redness on the heels in 70% and 5% of randomized controlled study showed that EMLA
infants, respectively. Ramaioli et al21 reported no decreases the pain from arterial puncture.
local adverse effects in 15 full-term neonates who The observed inconsistency in EMLA’s efficacy
also received EMLA on the heel. Gourrier et al16 may be attributable to study design issues including
encountered erythema in 3% (3/116) of neonates be- the sample size, procedure site, dosage regimen and
cause of the occlusive (Tegaderm, 3M, Minneapolis, administration techniques, outcome measures, and
MN) dressing. After 2 years of clinical use of EMLA, co-interventions. Studies in adults have revealed that
Gourrier et al25,29 reported the occurrence of purpuric the onset and duration of action of EMLA is related
lesions on the site of application in 5 instances. Four to the skin thickness at the site of application and
neonates ,32 weeks gestation and ,3-days postna- local blood flow. Characteristics of the stratum cor-
tal age experienced five episodes of rash (1 neonate neum, epidermis, dermis, and local blood flow de-
had a second reaction when exposed to EMLA at a termine both the rate and the extent of absorption
different skin site) after receiving doses of one eighth into tissues and systemic circulation. The length of
to one sixth of a 5 g tube of EMLA for 90 to 120 analgesia depends on redistribution of the local an-
minutes. In all cases, the rash resolved without se- esthetic into the systemic circulation, and seems to be
quelae. Rechallenge some weeks later on 2 infants shortest for mucous membranes, the face, and dis-
revealed no complications. eased skin.30,31 The analgesic effect of EMLA also
Four groups measured concentrations of local an- varies with duration of application and duration be-
esthetics in neonatal blood. Taddio et al22 measured tween time of cream removal and the initiation of the
lidocaine, prilocaine, and o-toluidine (the toxic me- procedure. For the dorsum of the forearm, the sen-
tabolite believed to lead to methemoglobinemia) con- sory and pain thresholds have been found to increase
centrations at 4, 8, or 12 hours after the dose in linearly for increased application times (from 30 to
preterm neonates. In all cases, the observed concen- 120 minutes). Thresholds are significantly increased
trations were ,0.3 mg/mL, ,0.1 mg/mL, and ,0.02 for up to 240 minutes after cream removal.32 There
mg/mL for lidocaine, prilocaine, and o-toluidine, re- are currently insufficient data in neonates to com-
spectively. Of note, the limit of detection was 0.02 pare with adult data, but it seems likely that differ-
mg/mL for all drugs. Enad et al14 measured lidocaine ences in either procedure site or dosage regimen can
concentrations 4 hours after administration of EMLA significantly impact on the time-efficacy response of
in neonates $34 weeks GA. The mean concentration EMLA.
was 0.07 mg/mL (range, 0.0 mg/mL to 0.1 mg/mL). The lack of clinical efficacy of EMLA in heel lanc-
In full-term neonates, Taddio et al8 measured lido- ing pain for preterm and full-term infants may be
caine, prilocaine, and o-toluidine concentrations 1 to attributable to differences in the skin and blood per-
18 hours after administration of EMLA for circumci- fusion in the heel compared with other cutaneous
sion. The highest observed concentrations of lido- sites, and differences in the depth of tissue damage.
caine and prilocaine were 0.14 and 0.11 mg/mL, re- In a study comparing skin thickness and skin blood
spectively. o-Toluidine concentrations were below perfusion in full-term infants, Larsson et al33 found
the limit of detection (,0.02 mg/mL) in all cases. that skin perfusion was significantly enhanced in the
Ramaioli et al21 measured lidocaine and prilocaine heel compared with the other cutaneous regions
0.5 hours after EMLA application on the heel. In all (forehead, dorsum of hand). Although investigators
cases, concentrations were below the limit of detec- did not investigate qualitative differences in the skin
tion (,0.04 mg/mL). of different regions, they speculated that the lack of
efficacy of EMLA is attributable to rapid clearance
from the site of action.
DISCUSSION Another factor that may influence the observed
There are currently few therapeutic classes of efficacy of EMLA is the outcome measure used to
drugs available for the treatment of acute procedural assess pain. Although there is no consensus regard-
pain in neonates. The severity of potential adverse ing the most suitable way to measure neonatal pain,
effects from opioid analgesics have discouraged cli- there are many accepted methods. Validated behav-
nicians from using them in neonates, and until re- ioral pain scales such as the NFCS18 and cry duration
cently, no commercially available local anesthetic have been used. In addition to behavioral ap-
preparation has been available that was suitable for proaches, physiologic indicators such as HR, BP, and
use on intact skin. EMLA cream is considered a RR, and biochemical markers such as stress hormone
breakthrough in topical analgesia. This systematic concentrations have also been used. Finally, compos-
review shows that EMLA’s efficacy may be related to ite pain measures are also currently available. The
the type of cutaneous procedure. Three randomized most commonly used composite measures are the
controlled studies, including one double-blind study, PIPP,19 Barrier et al34 postoperative clinical scoring

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system, the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale35 and the Cry- CONCLUSION
ing, Requires Oxygen, Increased Vital Signs, Expres- In summary, the current data provide sufficient
sion and Sleepless Tool (CRIES).36 evidence to recommend routine use of EMLA for
With the abundance of choice in outcome mea- neonatal circumcision pain treatment in settings
sures, it is no wonder that investigators who have where no analgesics are routinely administered.
evaluated the efficacy of EMLA in neonates have EMLA cannot be recommended more than other an-
utilized very diverse pain indicators in their studies. algesic techniques with proven efficacy, such as re-
These differences prevent direct comparisons be- gional nerve block with lidocaine. Further research is
tween studies and the use of meta-analytic tech- necessary to determine the relative and combined
niques. Moreover, the sensitivity and specificity of efficacy of different analgesic techniques and the
these measures as indicators of neonatal pain are not most appropriate dosage regimens.
clear. Neonatal pain response may vary with age,37,38 There may be some benefit from EMLA for neo-
state,18,39 severity of illness,39 repeated painful proce- nates undergoing venous or arterial puncture and
dures,40 and use of concomitant medications such as PVC placement; however, efficacy data for these pro-
opioid analgesics or neuromuscular blockers. Pre- cedures are limited. EMLA seems to be ineffective for
term neonates may also respond to nonpainful stim- treatment of heel lancing pain.
uli in a similar way as they do to painful stimuli37 Single doses of EMLA are safe for application to
because of a limited repertoire of responses or con- the skin of neonates of GA .26 weeks. Additional
ditioning. The use of developmentally insensitive research is needed before EMLA can be recom-
pain indicators such as presence or absence of infant mended for repeated administration. To facilitate
systematic evaluations, investigators are encouraged
crying11 may have obscured differences between
to devise their research studies with similar out-
groups.
comes, and to provide results in a consistent fashion
Cointerventions may have also contributed to the (as described by The Standards of Reporting Trials
variability in the results. For example, heel warming Group).42
before heel lancing may have increased blood flow to
the region and increased uptake of EMLA into the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
bloodstream. Details regarding cointerventions such This project was initiated by the Fetus and Newborn Commit-
as heel warming were not consistently described by tee of the Canadian Paediatric Society to establish guidelines for
investigators. In addition, information about other pain treatment in neonates. We thank Doctors C. Johnston, D. De
comfort measures that were used were not consis- Amici, and E. Gourrier for providing additional information about
their studies. We also thank A. Lane Ilersich for his critical review
tently described. of this manuscript.
The contribution of blinding, randomization, and Certain aspects of this study have been published in the doc-
choice of outcome measures on the observed efficacy toral dissertation of Anna Taddio (1997) and the Cochrane Library,
of EMLA for different procedures could not be de- Issue #4, 1997.
termined because of the limited number of studies.
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A Systematic Review of Lidocaine-Prilocaine Cream (EMLA) in the Treatment of
Acute Pain in Neonates
Anna Taddio, Arne Ohlsson, Thomas R. Einarson, Bonnie Stevens and Gideon Koren
Pediatrics 1998;101;e1
DOI: 10.1542/peds.101.2.e1

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A Systematic Review of Lidocaine-Prilocaine Cream (EMLA) in the Treatment of
Acute Pain in Neonates
Anna Taddio, Arne Ohlsson, Thomas R. Einarson, Bonnie Stevens and Gideon Koren
Pediatrics 1998;101;e1
DOI: 10.1542/peds.101.2.e1

The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is
located on the World Wide Web at:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/101/2/e1

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