In-office thermachoice III ablation: a comparison of two anesthetic techniques.

Background: Patient comfort and safety are prerequisites for office procedures.

Study Objective: comparison of the fentanyl transdermal patch with injection of local anesthesia for intraoperative/postoperative pain from in-office Thermachoice III ablations.

Methods: Single-center prospective randomized (1:1) cohort study. Primary Endpoint: intraoperative and postoperative VAS pain scores (0 as no pain, 10 as extreme pain). Secondary Endpoints: patient satisfaction between cohorts and adverse events.

Results: 41 patients were randomized [21 patch protocol (FP), 20 injection protocol (IP)]. For patch users, the median VAS scores were 2.60 (range 1-4) intraoperatively and 3.30 (range 2-5) postoperatively (p = 0.09, CI = -0.8 to 0.4), with the most common adverse events being nausea (62%) and vomiting (38%). Compared to injection, there was no significant difference in intraoperative VAS score (FP median VAS = 2.60, IP median VAS = 2.59; p = 0.15, CI = -0.05 to 0.48), but a significant difference postoperatively (FP median VAS = 3.30, IP median VAS = 6.0; p = 0.01, CI = -2.6 to -1.4). Less NSAIDs were used postoperatively with the FP. At 24 h, more FP patients were 'very satisfied' or 'satisfied' than IP patients.

Conclusion: Patch intraoperative VAS pain scores are comparable to uterine block scores; postoperative VAS pain scores were statistically lower with the FP. FP resulted in more favorable 'satisfaction' rates compared to IP.