Comparison of cocaine and lignocaine as intranasal local anaesthetics

The relative efficacy of Cocaine and Lignocaine as local anaesthetic agents in the nose were compared. Twenty-five patients undergoing bilateral intra-nasal antroscopy under local anaesthetic were used as their own controls when one nasal cavity was anaesthetised with Cocaine and the other with Lignocaine. On 56 per cent of occasions the patients experienced no difference in the level of discomfort. However, on 36 per cent of occasions Cocaine was noted to give better subjective anaesthesia as compared with 8 per cent of occasions when Lignocaine was superior.