New Local Anesthetics

Publication date: Available online 3 July 2018Source: Best Practice & Research Clinical AnaesthesiologyAuthor(s): Jarna Shah, Effrossyni Gina Votta-Velis, Alain BorgeatAbstractLocal anesthetics are used for the performance of various regional anesthesia techniques for intraoperative anesthesia and analgesia, as well as for the treatment of acute and chronic pain. Older medications like lidocaine and bupivacaine as well as newer ones such as mepivacaine and ropivacaine are being used successfully for decades. Routes of administration include neuraxial, perineural, intravenous, various infiltrative approaches, topical, and transdermal. There is new innovation with the use of older local anesthetics in novel manners, in addition to the development and use of new formulations. This chapter seeks to summarize the pharmacokinetics of local anesthetics and address the role of newer local anesthetics, as well as clinical implications, safety profiles, and the future of local anesthetic research. Finally, some clinical pearls are highlighted.
Source: Best Practice and Research Clinical Anaesthesiology - Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: research