Methemoglobinemie consecutive a l'abus de gel de lidocaïne visqueuse.

Lidocaine use may lead to methemoglobinemia. Lidocaine is clinically widely used as an anaesthesic drug, however its toxic effect is rare. We report a high methemoglobinemia level of 31.1 % following repeated Xylocaine® gel oral applications. New metabolic pathways of lidocaine have been reported leading to dimethylphenylhydroxylamine in humans. This metabolism is very similar to the aniline derivative ones, and may explain lidocaine methemoglobinemia effect.