Abstract
Background : Appropriate nasal anesthesia is an essential requirement for comfortable non-sedated transnasal esophagogastroduodenoscopy (n-EGD). Although the method that uses two different size sticks (conventional method) is regarded as the most common, some opinions consider that it is a cumbersome and time-consuming procedure. We developed a novel nasal anesthesia technique, the ‘sliding-stick method’ (sliding method). Our aim was to compare the usefulness of the conventional (C) and sliding (S) method.
Patients and methods : The sliding stick consists of an 18 Fr thick stick (6cm) over a 10 Fr thin stick (12cm) and the thick stick slides over the thin stick. This stick ensures the nasal space for the n-EGD passage (about 6 mm diameter) in a single insertion into the nasal cavity by sliding the thick stick over the thin stick. One hundred patients scheduled for n-EGD were prospectively randomly assigned to two groups: C method (50 patients) and S method (50 patients). We evaluated the outcomes (nasal pain score during nasal anesthesia, nasal pain score during n-EGD and time required for nasal anesthesia).
Results : It was indicated that the S method had non-inferiority to the C method, and significantly reduced the time for nasal anesthesia (average 44 seconds).
Conclusion : The novel nasal anesthesia technique (S method) can reduce anesthesia time without compromising patient acceptance.
