A vibratory device can reduce the pain of an anaesthetic injection prior to skin cancer surgery, but it it is not as effective in patients who catastrophise pain, a study shows.

US plastic surgeons studied 87 patients who underwent a total of 101 cutaneous cancer surgeries at a tertiary dermatological surgery clinic, with most surgeries being on the head and neck.

Patients were randomised to receive treatment with a 10cm hand-held 100Hz vibratory anaesthetic device, either switched on or off, available online or over the counter in the US.

Twenty-six patients catastrophised pain, meaning they rated their anticipated pain above four on a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the worst possible pain.