This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (3) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Yokoyama, M. Articles by Hirakawa, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Yokoyama, M. Articles by Hirakawa, M. Related Collections Regional Anesthesia Pharmacology

---

REGIONAL ANESTHESIA AND PAIN MEDICINE

The Effects of Epidural Insertion Site and Surgical Procedure on Plasma Lidocaine Concentration

Department of Anesthesiology & Resuscitology, Okayama University Medical School, 2-5-1, Shikata-cho, Okayama City, Okayama 700-8558, Japan

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Masataka Yokoyama, MD, Department of Anesthesiology and Resuscitology, Okayama University Medical School, 2-5-1, Shikata-cho, Okayama City, Okayama 700-8558, Japan. Address e-mail to masayoko{at}cc .okayama-u.ac.jp.

We compared the plasma lidocaine concentrations associated with continuous epidural infusion at different insertion sites in patients during surgery using epidural plus general anesthesia. In Study 1, there were 12 patients in each of four surgical groups in whom blood loss was expected to be <400 mL. The four groups were as follows: the lower extremity, the lower abdomen, the upper abdomen, and the lung. Liver surgery was excluded from Study 1. Study 2 comprised patients undergoing radical hysterectomy or radical prostatectomy (a radical operation group, n = 12) and hepatectomy (a hepatectomy group, n = 12) in whom the expected surgical blood loss was more than 1500 mL. All patients initially received 0.1 mL/kg followed by a continuous infusion of 0.1 mL · kg^-1 · h^-1 of 1.5% lidocaine, and plasma concentrations of lidocaine were measured at 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min and every 60 min thereafter to 300 min. The plasma lidocaine concentration during surgery did not change regardless of the infusion site or the surgical site, other than the liver. The plasma concentrations of lidocaine in the hepatectomy group increased significantly at 180 min (2.9 ± 0.6 µg/mL, P < 0.01), 240 min (3.5 ± 0.7 µg/mL, P < 0.01), and 300 min (3.6 ± 0.74 µg/mL, P < 0.01) compared with that at 15 min (2.0 ± 0.3 µg/mL), and these values were significantly larger than those in all other groups.

Implications: The site of infusion and the surgical procedure, with the exception of liver surgery, do not affect plasma lidocaine concentrations under continuous epidural infusion at a rate of 1.5 mg·kg^-1 ·h^-1. Caution should be used when patients receive epidural infusion of lidocaine during hepatectomy.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. T. Lee, I. E. Krichevsky, H. Xu, A. Ota-Setlik, V. D. D'Agati, and C. W. Emala Local anesthetics worsen renal function after ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats Am J Physiol Renal Physiol, January 1, 2004; 286(1): F111 - F119. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]