Comparative toxicity of glucose and lidocaine administered intrathecally in the rat.

Background And Objectives: Glucose is a common component of anesthetic solutions used for spinal anesthesia. However, its possible contribution to recent injuries occurring with spinal anesthesia has not been adequately addressed. Accordingly, the present studies compare the functional and morphologic effects of intrathecally administered glucose with those of lidocaine.

Intrathecal catheterization in the rat. Improved technique for morphologic analysis of drug-induced injury.

Background: The authors previously described an in vivo model suitable for investigation of functional impairment induced by intrathecally injected local anesthetic. However, meaningful histologic analysis could not be performed because catheterization, per se, induced morphologic changes in control animals. In the current experiments, the authors sought to identify an alternative, less reactive, catheterization technique for intrathecal drug administration.

Cellular uptake of albumin from lungs of anesthetized rabbits.

Resolution of alveolar edema depends on clearance of serum protein, as well as liquid from the alveolar space. Protein clearance is slower than liquid clearance and may take days to weeks. Our earlier studies presented evidence for the importance of paracellular removal of soluble protein from the air spaces.

Local anesthetic neurotoxicity does not result from blockade of voltage-gated sodium channels.

To investigate whether local anesthetic neurotoxicity results from sodium channel blockade, we compared the effects of intrathecally administered lidocaine, bupivacaine, and tetrodotoxin (TTX), the latter a highly selective sodium channel blocker, on sensory function and spinal cord morphology in a rat model. First, to determine relative anesthetic potency, 25 rats implanted with intrathecal catheters were subjected to infusions of lidocaine (n = 8), bupivacaine (n = 8), or TTX (n = 9). The three drugs produced parallel dose-effect curves that differed significantly from one another: the EC50 values for lidocaine, bupivacaine, and TTX were 28.

The addition of 7.5% glucose does not alter the neurotoxicity of 5% lidocaine administered intrathecally in the rat.

Background: Recent reports of major and minor neurologic sequelae after spinal anesthesia have generated concern regarding the safety of some currently used intrathecal agents. The role of glucose, if any, in neurotoxic injury associated with spinal anesthesia is not known. The current experiments sought to determine whether the presence of 7.