Benefits of Adding Hyaluronidase to 1% Lidocaine Anesthesia

Hyaluronidase (Wydase) has been used as an additive to local anesthetic solutions to enhance the spread of the anesthetic within the dermis and subcutaneous tissue. In this prospective, paired, double-blind study, 1% lidocaine injections with and without hyaluronidase (15 U/ml) were compared. The anesthetic solutions were injected into the forearms of 25 volunteers.

Lidocaine with hyaluronidase achieved a significantly larger area of anesthesia with less tissue distortion. However, the injections containing hyaluronidase were judged to be significantly more painful than those containing lidocaine alone. The investigators noted no difference in anesthetic efficacy or duration during 12 minutes of observation after injection.