Neuropathic pain, is caused by damage or disease affecting
the somatosensory nervous system, leads to deterioration of
the quality of life of patients. Most commonly, this deterioration is due to
the inefficacy of treatment or to
the adverse effects of systemic treatment. Pharmaco
therapy of neuropathic pain involves
the use of antiepileptic agents, antidepressants, and opioids that may lead to numerous adverse effects, particularly in elderly patients. Intravenous infusions of lidocaine may improve
the efficacy of
the analgesic treatment of neuropathic pain patients while not causing any significant adverse effects.
Methods
In our study, we carried out a retrospective analysis of 85 patients with various neuropathic pain syndromes. In this group, 81 patients received 3–25 intravenous infusions of lidocaine (5 mg/kg of body weight over 30 min). In the remaining 4 patients, the treatment was discontinued after the first infusion due to the lack of efficacy.
Results
The analgesic effect of intravenous lidocaine was better when the intensity of pain experienced before the infusion was high. In addition, better effects were observed in elderly patients. No need to interrupt the infusion occurred in any of the patients. No serious adverse effects were observed either. Transient dizziness, not requiring additional treatment, occurred in 5 patients after the infusion.
Conclusions
The best therapeutic effects of lidocaine infusion was observed in pain symptoms characterized by the highest intensity of baseline pain. Intravenous lidocaine administered at the dose of 5 mg/kg of body weight over 30 min is effective, safe and caused no significant adverse effects.
