The Effect of Caffeine Administration and Consumption on Anesthetic Efficacy: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Introduction: Caffeine is considered one of the most common stimulants that improve alertness and prevents sleepiness in many people. It is one of the most common consumed psychoactive substances in the world. Sometimes patients report failing of feeling numbness after local anesthesia administration due to excessive consumption of coffee, thus, they request a higher dose of local anesthesia during treatment. To this day, no previous study reported a direct association between caffeine intake and local anesthesia failure. Aim: This study aims to review published articles that discussed the effect of caffeine administration and consumption on anesthetic efficacy. Materials and Methods: A literature search was performed from multiple databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Google Scholar. The most eligible articles were included using specific keywords. The literature search was limited to full-text English articles, which were screened for eligibility by two reviewers. Results and Discussion: Four studies were included in our study, these studies demonstrated that caffeine administration following general anesthesia can significantly accelerate recovery. However, the effect of caffeine consumption on local anesthesia efficacy was not yet completely proven. Conclusion: Caffeine consumption can speed up post-general anesthesia recovery. However, the effect of caffeine consumption on local anesthesia efficacy is still controversial and further investigation and clinical trials are required.