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Clinical Evaluation of the Regional and Topical Anesthetic Activity of Prilocaine
Author(s) -
Crawford Oral B.
Publication year - 1965
Publication title -
acta anaesthesiologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1399-6576
pISSN - 0001-5172
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-6576.1965.tb00543.x
Subject(s) - prilocaine , medicine , methemoglobinemia , methemoglobin , lidocaine , anesthesia , local anesthetic , anesthetic , dose , pharmacology , hemoglobin
SUMMARY In terms of clinical effectiveness, prilocaine possesses the same advantages as lidocaine. In addition, it offers a significantly greater duration and safety margin without a vasopressor. On the other hand, prilocaine has a latency that is somewhat longer than lidocaine, and may produce methemoglobinemia. The small difference in latency betwen these agents is of little importance to most clinicians. With respect to methemoglobin formation, dosages of prilocaine equal to the maximally recommended dose of lidocaine do not produce statistically significant amounts of methemoglobin, and at dose levels which are twice in excess of that recommended for lidocaine, prilocaine does not produce clinically significant levels of methemoglobin. Moreover, methemoglobin is rapidly and effectively reverted by methylene blue. Therefore, the production of methemoglobin does not limit the clinical indication for this drug in the dosages recommended. On the basis of our clinical experiences, prilocaine would appear to be the local anesdietic drug of choice for regional anesthesia.