A two-year study by Bluewater Health physicians and staff has been published in the prestigious Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences.
It focused on a procedure called a "sentinel lymph node biopsy" that's often a part of breast cancer surgery.
Patient Navigator Sarah Canning says the procedure has been identified as one of the more painful aspects of the surgery, which inspired the study to see what options were available to ease the discomfort.
She says for a hospital of Bluewater Health's size, a study can be a very challenging endeavor.
"Usually it's large academic centres who are publishing research," says Canning. "It was a tremendous amount of work to conduct a study and be accepted to a large journal. So it's a huge honour and it's amazing that we can support patients. It was their feedback that really drove us to do the study."
Canning says the study discovered little evidence supporting the use of a topical anesthetic cream, but also created a lot of awareness among hospital staff who can now better prepare patients for the procedure.