The analgesic effect of topical application of EMLA cream for the curettage verrucae vulgaris was compared to local infiltration with lignocaine in 89 patients. The main purpose of this randomized study was to evaluate the patients' overall impression of the treatment. All patients anaesthetized by lignocaine infiltration reported it as 'an acceptable procedure' compared to only 71% of the patients treated with EMLA. It cannot be recommended to use EMLA cream as local anaesthetic for curettage of verrucae vulgaris, presumably because the highly keratotic nature of the common warts does not allow sufficient penetration of epicutaneously applied EMLA.