BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
Postoperative pain is foreseeable however it is still undermanaged. Multimodal management decreases side-effects and provides adequate pain control. Lidocaine, local anesthetic used for more than five decades, is being intravenously administered aiming at managing pain in different types of surgeries with promising results. This study aimed at reviewing the use of intravenous lidocaine to manage postoperative pain, and its action mechanism.
CONTENTS:
This article addresses the use of intravenous lidocaine to manage postoperative pain, its action mechanism and its applicability for different types of surgeries. An active search was carried out in the following databases: Medline via Pubmed (1974-2013), Cochrane Library (1990-2010) and LILACS (1974-2013). Search was adjusted to identify articles addressing postoperative intravenous lidocaine action mechanism and postoperative analgesia. As to language, articles in Portuguese and English were selected.
CONCLUSION:
Intravenous lidocaine, due to its low cost, opioid-sparing action and minimum side-effects is an adequate option to manage postoperative pain.
Intravenous lidocaine; Multimodal management; Postoperative analgesia; Postoperative pain