Lidocaine - Pharmacological Options Beyond Local Anaesthetic!

Abstract

Off label prescription of pharmacological agents are common in clinical practice. Subsequently some of these drugs are recognized on a regular basis. Unanticipated pharmacological actions are noticed either in the evolution phase of drug or following some interesting observations reported during clinical practice. One such agent of interest to anaesthesiologists is Lidocaine. Multiple possible therapeutic options of this agent are now critically elucidated. Anaesthesiologists are familiar with lidocaine's potency to blunt airway irritability and cardiac arrhythmias. Interestingly its roles as antitumor agent as well as possible antibacterial and antiviral are now increasingly explored. The following text is a brief description of lidocaine's established and emerging roles other than of a local anaesthetic.