A local anesthetic (LA) is a medication that causes absence of all sensation (including pain) in a specific body part without loss of consciousness, as opposed to a general anesthetic, which eliminates all sensation in the entire body and causes unconsciousness. Local anesthetics are most commonly used to eliminate pain during or after surgery. When it is used on specific nerve pathways (local anesthetic nerve block), paralysis (loss of muscle function) also can be induced.
LAs are of 2 types:
Clinical LAs:
amino amide LAs
amino ester LAs
Synthetic LAs
Cocaine derivatives
Synthetic cocaine-derived LAs differ from cocaine because they have a much lower abuse potential and do not cause hypertension vasoconstriction (with few exceptions).
The suffix "-caine" at the ends of these medication names is derived from the word "cocaine", because cocaine was formerly used as a local anesthetic.
Short Duration of Action and Low Potency
Benzocaine
Procaine
Chloroprocaine
Medium Duration of Action and Medium Potency
Lidocaine
Prilocaine
High Duration and High Potency
Tetracaine
Bupivacaine
Cinchocaine
Ropivacaine
Local anesthetics may be used to prevent and/or treat acute pain, to treat chronic pain, and as a supplement to general anesthesia.
They are used in various techniques of local anesthesia such as:
Topical anesthesia (surface anesthesia)
Topical administration of cream, gel, ointment, liquid, or spray of anesthetic dissolved in DMSO or other solvents/carriers for deeper absorption
Infiltration
Brachial plexus block
Epidural block (extradural)
Spinal anesthesia (subarachnoid block)
Iontophoresis
Diagnostic purposes (e.g. dibucaine)
Anti-arrhythmic agents (e.g. lidocaine).
Even though acute pain can be managed using analgesics, conduction anesthesia may be preferable because of superior pain control and fewer side effects. For purposes of pain therapy, LA drugs are often given by repeated injection or continuous infusion through a catheter. LA drugs are also often combined with other agents such as opioids for synergistic analgesic action.
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The aim of this course is two-fold:
i) to describe the molecular properties of some important drug targets
ii) to illustrate some applications of drugs active at the nervous system
We will work with local stakeholders in the British town of Bridport to design housing responding to local needs not met by the traditional market. We will focus on how to make this housing characterf
We will work with local stakeholders in the British town of Bridport to design housing responding to local needs not met by the traditional market. We will focus on how to make this housing characterf
Local anesthesia is any technique to induce the absence of sensation in a specific part of the body, generally for the aim of inducing local analgesia, i.e. local insensitivity to pain, although other local senses may be affected as well. It allows patients to undergo surgical and dental procedures with reduced pain and distress. In many situations, such as cesarean section, it is safer and therefore superior to general anesthesia.
Lidocaine, also known as lignocaine and sold under the brand name Xylocaine among others, is a local anesthetic of the amino amide type. It is also used to treat ventricular tachycardia. When used for local anaesthesia or in nerve blocks, lidocaine typically begins working within several minutes and lasts for half an hour to three hours. Lidocaine mixtures may also be applied directly to the skin or mucous membranes to numb the area. It is often used mixed with a small amount of adrenaline (epinephrine) to prolong its local effects and to decrease bleeding.
An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia — in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two broad classes: general anesthetics, which result in a reversible loss of consciousness, and local anesthetics, which cause a reversible loss of sensation for a limited region of the body without necessarily affecting consciousness. A wide variety of drugs are used in modern anesthetic practice.
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