Is Vibration Anesthesia Effective and Safe for Pain Reduction in Botulinum Toxin Injection? A Randomized Split-Face Controlled Trial and Cadaver Experiment

Abstract

Background: Pain is an important issue in botulinum toxin injection. Vibration anesthesia is a noninvasive method for pain alleviation, but few studies have reported its use during botulinum toxin injection. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether vibration anesthesia was effective and safe for pain reduction during botulinum toxin injection for masseter reduction. Methods: A randomized split-face controlled trial was performed in patients who required masseter reduction. Vibration anesthesia was randomly administered on either side. Study outcomes were pain scores on a visual analog scale, duration of effect, satisfaction, and complications. Intergroup comparison and linear regression analyses were performed. Results: In a total of 216 patients, the pain score on the vibration side (2.97 ± 1.44) was significantly lower than that on the nonvibration side (4.72 ± 2.13) (P