Lidocaine (LDC)

Lidocaine is a common local anesthetic and antiarrhythmic drug. Lidocaine is used topically to relieve itching, burning and pain from skin inflammations, injected as a dental anesthetic or as a local anesthetic for minor surgery. The efficacy profile of lidocaine as a local anesthetic is characterized by a rapid onset of action and intermediate duration of efficacy. Therefore, lidocaine is suitable for infiltration, block and surface anesthesia. Longer-acting substances such as bupivacaine are sometimes given preference for subdural and epidural anesthesias; lidocaine, on the other hand, has the advantage of a rapid onset of action. Topical lidocaine has been shown in some patients to relieve the pain of postherpetic neuralgia (a complication of shingles), though there is not enough study evidence to recommend it as a first-line treatment.