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Cannulas provide greater patient comfort with calcium hydroxylapatite

The blunt cannula may alleviate pain and cause fewer adverse events than a standard needle to deliver calcium hydroxylapatite for correction of nasolabial folds, according to researchers.

The 30-day, open-label, split-faced controlled study tested two delivery methods for CaHA (Radiesse; Merz North America): standard needles or blunt cannulas.

The researchers randomized 20 patients to undergo CaHA injection with either a standard needle or blunt cannula in the nasolabial folds (NLF).

At 0, 3, 7, 14 and 30 days, patients assessed their own pain and the treating investigator evaluated adverse events and nasolabial fold correction via NLF depth.

The researchers found that patients treated with needles had more bruising, swelling and redness. Similarly, those treated with thin-walled needles had more moderate and severe adverse events at all evaluated time points.

Patients rated pain an average of 2.2 points Visual Analog Scale for needle treatment and 1.0 points for the treatment with a cannula.

They found no evidence of ineffectiveness for dermal corrections using blunt cannulas. Furthermore, blunt cannulas helped prevent vascular occlusion and did not jeopardize the degree of correction, the researchers concluded. – Abigail Sutton

Disclosure: The researchers report support for the study from a grant from Merz Aesthetics.