The use of nerve blocks in the laser treatment of cutaneous lesions

Lasers are now well accepted as standard treatment for many cutaneous lesions. Many types of laser treatment require pain relief, the choices being general anaesthesia, (particularly in younger patients), or local or topical anaesthesia (EMLA). There have been few reports on the specific use of local anaesthetic nerve blocks in the laser treatment of cutaneous lesions. We present our experience of 816 nerve blocks in 135 patients (53 males, 82 females; age range 5–73 years, median 27 years) during 877 treatment sessions. 96% of the nerve blocks provided complete anaesthesia in the required anatomical area. Only 9 (7%) patients (1.1% of the 816 nerve blocks) developed complications that could be attributed to the anaesthetic blockade. We recommend nerve blocks as a safe and efficacious method of anaesthesia during the laser treatment of cutaneous lesions.