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Dear Editor, Regarding the comments to our article published in International Orthopedics [1], the authors have chosen to use the visual analogue scale (VAS) (0–10), because in their opinion children aged five years do not really know or can properly judge the difference between “42” and “47”; they can handle a “4” or “5” much better. The authors did discuss this point with their clinical psychologist and she agreed on that. Certainly, at follow-up the patients were older and a score between 0 and 100 would be mathematically more precise. Since none of the patients reported any relevant pain symptoms, only 1/78 had a 1/10 VAS, thus resulting in an average of 0.012820513; the authors rounded this figure and specified the range (0–1). The authors agree that this figure is more accurate, but in this particular case, they do not see a benefit to the readership in discussing this in detail.

Purpose The aim of this study was to analyse the management of displaced paediatric supracondylar humerus fractures at our Level I Trauma Centre and to determine clinical and radiographic long-term results following operative treatment.

The aim of this research is to analyze analgesic efficacy of the 5% lidocaine medicated plaster in two randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover studies in 16 healthy volunteers using capsaicin and sunburn pain models.Lidocaine and placebo plasters were simultaneously applied to forearms and thighs at contralateral body sites for three alternating 12-h plaster-on/plaster-off periods. Between the second and third plaster-on period, 4.2-cm circular spots on both pretreated thighs were irradiated with three times the individual minimal erythema dose of UVB light. After the last plaster-on period, 20 μl of 0.1% capsaicin was injected intradermally into both forearms. The study was repeated using a single 12-h plaster application.The area of pinprick hyperalgesia was diminished by 53% (p0.003) in the capsaicin model and by 84% (p0.0001) in the sunburn model; the intensity of mechanical hyperalgesia to rigid filaments (8 - 512 mN) was reduced in both models. Cold pain perception threshold was reduced (19.7°C ± 8.0 vs 21.8°C ± 6.8 for placebo, p0.05, sunburn). Similar effects were observed in the 12-h exposure study. No effect was seen on capsaicin-induced spontaneous pain and flare size, or blood flow in the sunburn area, and heat hyperalgesia in either study.Lidocaine plaster effectively treats mechanical hyperalgesia and cold pain.