The Skin Wrinkle Test: a Simple Clinical Test of Regional Block Success

Stimulated skin wrinkling induced by the application of EMLA (eutectic mixture of local anesthetic) cream to the finger pads of blocked and unblocked fingers of study volunteers (test applied to both study arms)

A digital nerve block is performed by injecting a total of 3 millilitres of 2% Lidocaine at the base of the ring finger of randomized hand of the volunteer. The effect of the block is confirmed clinically before proceeding with the study data collection. Please see the description for more details on the procedure