Lidocaine, << LY duh kayn, >> is a drug that can block pain sensation in a specific part of the body. Such drugs are called local anesthetics. Physicians use lidocaine to numb a certain part of the body before surgery or to treat pain associated with injuries or disease.
Lidocaine may be applied directly to the skin, throat, or lining of the nose, or it may be injected around nerves. Injection around the lower spinal cord helps control pain during childbirth or surgical procedures involving the lower parts of the body.
Lidocaine stops sensation in a certain area by interfering with electrical impulses that travel along nerve fibers. The resulting loss of sensory function is called a nerve block. Feeling returns to the blocked area when the drug’s effect wears off. Physicians sometimes inject lidocaine to correct abnormal heart rhythms in heart attack victims and in patients who have a heart condition called arrhythmia. The drug acts on the nerves that carry electrical impulses to the heart.
See also Anesthesia (Local anesthesia) .
