Lidocaine
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Lidocaine (Brand name Xylocaine): Both an
anesthetic and an antiarrhythmic (antidysrhythmic) lidocaine, in
different preparations, may be used to prevent or control an irregular
cardiac rhythm, as a regional anesthetic in epidurals or nerve blocks,
and as a topical anesthetic for local skin disorders.
Lidocaine was synthesized in 1943 by Lofgren to be used as an alternative
to procaine, the first synthetic local anesthetic, and cocaine,
the natural derivative of the plant Erythroxyon coca. Lidocaine
has several uses in anesthesia practice. As an antiarrhythmic lidocaine
hydrochloride is administered without preservatives intravenously.
It acts by decreasing depolarization, automaticity, and excitability
of the hearts ventricles during diastole effectively reversing ventricular
arrhythmias. As a local anesthetic it inhibits nerve impulse conduction
causing temporary loss of feeling and sensation.
