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Antibacterial properties of EMLA ® and lidocaine in wound tissue biopsies for culturing
Author(s) -
Berg Jais O.,
Mössner Belinda K.,
Skov Marianne N.,
Lauridsen Jorgen,
Gottrup Finn,
Kolmos Hans J.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
wound repair and regeneration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.847
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1524-475X
pISSN - 1067-1927
DOI - 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2006.00157.x
Subject(s) - lidocaine , staphylococcus aureus , saline , pseudomonas aeruginosa , local anesthetic , microbiology and biotechnology , preservative , topical anesthetic , medicine , tissue culture , bacteria , in vitro , chemistry , anesthesia , biology , food science , biochemistry , genetics
If a tissue biopsy from a chronic wound is sampled for culture, the antibacterial properties of local anesthetics may pose a problem in producing false‐negative results. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of EMLA ® (AstraZeneca) and lidocaine on common wound pathogenic bacteria. An in vitro study of a total of 25 clinical isolates and ATCC reference strains of Staphylococcus aureus (including methicillin‐resistant S. aureus ), Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , and Streptococcus pyogenes was conducted. The isolates were exposed to the local anesthetic drugs (and some of their contents separately) at 35°C over a 24‐hour period and time–kill curves were recorded. No culture media were used and saline was used for controls. EMLA ® was found to have a rapid acting and powerful antibacterial effect and should not be used before culturing tissue samples. Lidocaine 1% was found not to inhibit the bacterial strains when exposure time was held below 2 hours. We conclude that culturing tissue from a wound biopsy is safe within 2 hours when a pure, preservative‐free lidocaine 1% solution is used.