TITLE:
Intravenous Lidocaine for Perioperative Use
AUTHORS:
Marasini Bidur, Xiaodong Qiu, Limbu Sujata
KEYWORDS:
Intravenous Lidocaine, Local Anaesthetics, Postoperative Analgesia, Postoperative Pain
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Anesthesiology,
Vol.9 No.4,
April
10,
2019
ABSTRACT: Introduction and Background: Lidocaine was recognised only as a local anesthetic and anti-arrhythmic drug for past decades. Nonetheless, more recently its utility in perioperative setting is being appreciated globally. This review aims to analyse its work beyond its traditional use when employed intravenously in perioperative setting and overall impact on postoperative period. Content: A total of 41 articles were selected for study while 13 of them were chosen for data presentation. Databases such as CENTRAL, MEDLINE/Pubmed, LILACS, Ovid and Scielo were used to search the articles using keywords like Intravenous lidocaine, local anesthetics, perioperative analgesia or postoperative pain. A bolus dose of 1.5 mg/kg and maintenance dose of 2 - 3 mg/kg/h of intravenous lidocaine was used to bring out its analgesic effect and its positive impact on postoperative stage in nearly all the selected studies. Its anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and immunomodulatory effects were also addressed. Conclusion: Perioperative implication of systemic lidocaine not only lessens pain perception but also assures early return of bowel function, lower incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting, opioid sparing effect and shorter length of hospital stay. Thus, implementation of lidocaine as a part of perioperative approach should be seriously considered. Its role in surgeries other than abdominal needs more detailed study. In spite of current results encouraging, it may be too early to claim its similar impact in other types of surgeries.