The original amide local anaesthetic, introduced in 1944. A significant improvement over the esters which preceded it. Now called Lidocaine (US international).
Local anaesthesia; reduction in hypertensive response to laryngoscopy; reduction in intracranial pressure (intracerebral vasoconstrictor); treatment of excitatory cardiac dysrhythmias; mixed with propofol to reduce pain on injection; topical anaesthesia - direct to mucusal surfaces, or cutaneous as part of a Eutectic Mixture of Local Anaesthetics (EMLA).
