Lidocaine containing high concentrations of a vasoconstrictor: is it safe for infiltration anesthesia?

Abstract

For economical and practical reasons, flank laparotomy performed on cattle is done while the animal is standing. To prolong the duration of surgical anesthesia with local anesthetic drugs, vasoconstrictors are commonly added to delay absorption and reduce the systemic toxicity. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of lidocaine containing either 80 μg ml-1 norepinephrine or 12.5 μg ml-1 epinephrine on tissue integrity following flank inverted L infiltration anesthesia in sheep.