Lidocaine is a local anesthetic, also known as Xylocaine, in recent years it has been replaced procaine, widely used in local infiltration anesthesia in cosmetic plastic surgery, it can block the nerve excitability and conduction by inhibiting the sodium channels of nerve cell membrane. The fat soluble and protein binding rate of lidocaine is higher than procaine, its cell penetrating ability is strong, fast onset, long duration of action, the interaction strength is 4 times of procaine.
Lidocaine is used in infiltration anesthesia, epidural anesthesia, topical anesthesia (including thoracoscopy or abdominal surgery for mucosal anesthesia) and nerve block. In order to extend the time of anesthesia, reduce the poisoning of lidocaine and other side effects, can be added in the anesthetic epinephrine.
Lidocaine can also be used for the treatment of ventricular premature beat after acute myocardial infarction, ventricular tachycardia, digitalis poisoning, cardiac surgery and cardiac catheterization-induced ventricular arrhythmias, including ventricular premature beats, ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. Lidocaine is also used for duration status of epilepsy which other anti-seizure drugs are not effective, as well as local or spinal anesthesia. But it is usually ineffective for supraventricular arrhythmias.
