Problem: Intravenous cannulation is one of the key procedures that is performed for patients; however, it causes pain and discomfort. Studies have shown feasibility and efficiency of various anesthetic and analgesic agents to reduce pain but it is still not implemented in daily practice. The current study aims to assess the effect of topical application of an anesthetic agent on the pain perception of patients and degree of difficulty for healthcare professionals. Approach: 120 patients who require intravenous cannulation at an emergency department of a tertiary care center were enrolled usinga consecutive sampling technique for therandomized controlled trial. The intervention group received an application of 2% lignocaine gelfive minutes before the procedure, while,control group received a placebo (ECG gel). After the procedure, the pain score from patients anddegree of difficulty score from the health care professionals were assessed. Inferential analyses were done using Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Kruskal Wallis test. Findings: There was a significant difference in pain perception between both groups. Participants in the intervention group mostly experienced mild pain or no pain (56.7% and 20% respectively), however, participants in control group mostly experienced moderate pain (56.7%) and severe pain (28.3%). However, there is no significant difference in the degree of difficulty experienced by healthcare professionals for both groups., Conclusion:The use of a topical anesthetic agent like 2% lignocaine gel before intravenous cannulation is recommended to reduce additional pain experienced by patients during the course of their treatment