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Mexiletine vs. lignocaine in the management of ventricular arrhythmias after open‐heart surgery
Author(s) -
Bury Ross W.,
Hale George,
Higginbotham Michael,
Mashford Maurice L.,
Zuidland Peter
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1982.tb132295.x
Subject(s) - mexiletine , medicine , lidocaine , antiarrhythmic agent , anesthesia , cardiology , heart disease
We made an open comparison of lignocaine and mexiletine in the treatment of ventricular arrhythmias occurring after open‐heart surgery. Thirty patients whose arrhythmia did not respond to correction of metabolic disturbances were randomly allocated to receive treatment either with lignocaine or with mexiletine in fixed dosage schedules (15 in each group). Failure to control the rhythm or recurrent abnormality led to administration of a further dose and, if this was unsuccessful, to crossover to the alternative agent. The two drugs were comparable in efficacy, but mexiletine was slightly more effective when administered after lignocaine than the converse.