Lidocaine

Lidocaine, also known as lignocaine, is an amide-type local anesthetic with additional class Ib antiarrhythmic activity. Its principal pharmacological action is reversible blockade of voltage-gated sodium channels in excitable tissues. By reducing sodium-dependent action-potential propagation, lidocaine produces localized loss of sensation and can suppress abnormal ventricular electrical activity. The same mechanism also accounts for its use in regional or topical anesthesia and for potential effects on pain signaling in peripheral nerves and the spinal nervous system.

Lidocaine is administered in multiple formulations, including injectable solutions, topical gels, mucosal preparations, and experimental controlled-release systems. Its clinical and pharmaceutical roles range from local analgesia and procedural anesthesia to treatment or investigation of ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia, airway-response modulation during anesthesia, and neuropathic pain. Recent work has also examined combinations with amitriptyline, chitosan, tibezonium iodide, and drug-delivery materials such as PLGA. The recent literature represented here is heterogeneous: it includes therapeutic studies, pharmacokinetic and safety assessments, formulation research, and analytical detection of lidocaine as a cocaine adulterant rather than a biological treatment.