Local anesthetics

LOCAL ANESTHETICS
  • Local anesthesia provides pain control for a specific location on the body. Examples include an epidural before surgery on a rear limb, or a nerve block before a tooth extraction.
  • The local anesthetic prevents the pain impulse from being 'read' by the brain. With animals, local anesthetics may provide pain control, but may not be sufficient to keep the animal still during the procedure.
  • In these cases, a sedative or general anesthetic is typically needed in conjunction with a local anesthetic. For certain procedures, local anesthetics may be used in an effort to decrease the amount of general anesthetic needed and speed up recovery time.
  • Lidocaine is an example of a local anesthetic. It lasts about 1-2 hours.
  • Lidocaine should be used with caution in animals with certain heart conditions or liver disease.
  • It is used with caution in cats, since cats tend to be more sensitive to it than dogs.
  • Bupivacaine is similar to lidocaine and lasts for 2-6 hours. Morphine may be combined with a local anesthetic for epidurals.
Last modified: Thursday, 7 June 2012, 9:52 AM