Does local anesthesia decrease pain perception in women undergoing amniocentesis?

Objective: The null hypothesis is that local anesthesia does not decrease pain perception during amniocentesis. Study design: We performed a prospective randomized study comparing local anesthesia (1% lidocaine) with no anesthesia before amniocentesis in a racially diverse population. Immediately after the procedure, subjects were asked to assess their pain using both a Visual Analogue Scale and a 101-point Numerical Rating Scale. Results: Two hundred four women were enrolled; 101 women received local, 102 women received no local, and 1 woman declined the amniocentesis after randomization. There was no difference in pain perception between the 2 groups as measured by either the visual analogue scale or the numeric rating scale (P = .28 and .18 respectively). The correlation coefficient between the 2 pain scales was strong with 0.86 for the local group and 0.92 for the no local group, (P < .001). Conclusion: Administration of local anesthesia before amniocentesis does not decrease maternal pain perception.