The aim of this study was to explore the
analgesic effect of local application of compound
lidocaine/prilocaine cream on
cancer wounds during
wound care in order to reduce the amount of
morphine intake or completely replace the systemic
morphine administration and optimize the protocol for
cancer wound pain management. All patients were enrolled with a visual analog scale (VAS)
pain score ≥4. Before
wound care, 60 patients were randomly divided into 2 groups of 30 each:
morphine group (10 mg
tablet); topical 5% compound
lidocaine cream group (0.2 g/cm2). VAS scores, heart rate, and Kolcaba comfort level were recorded for the two groups 10 min before and 10, 15, 20, and 25 min after
wound care and data were analyzed statistically. The means for the
pain score and heart rate of the topical
lidocaine/prilocaine cream group were lower than those of the
morphine group (P<0.01) and the Kolcaba comfort level was higher (P<0.01). Local dermal application of the compound
lidocaine cream can be used as an alternative to the systemic
morphine administration in
cancer wound care for its safety and effectiveness. In addition, it can improve the patients' comfort and quality of life.