Overview
Equipment Required for Local Anaesthetic Injection
Lignocaine
Strength
- 1% (10mg/mL)
Higher concentrations don't improve anaesthetic and increase risk of toxicity.
Buffering with sodium bicarbonate can reduce the pain of injection.
Maximum Dose
- Without adrenaline - 4mg/kg
- With adrenaline - 7mg/kg
Onset
- 2 - 5 minutes
Duration
- 30 - 120 minutes
Bupivacaine
Duration
- 6 hours
Don't use sodium bicarbonate with bupivacaine as the drug may precipitate.
Strength
- 0.25% (2.5mg/ml)
Maximum Dose
- Without adrenaline - 2mg/kg
- With adrenaline - 3mg/kg
Onset
- 5 - 10 minutes
Adjuvants
Adrenaline
- When used as part of local anaesthesia, adrenaline causes local vasoconstriction that increases duration, reduces bleeding and allows for greater volumes to be injected.
Don't inject lignocaine with adrenaline into the nose, ear, fingers, toes or penis as this may cause ischaemia secondary to vasoconstriction.
Bicarbonate
- Bicarbonate is sometimes added to local anaesthetic in order to increase its pH and reduce the stinging that occurs with injection of the agent.
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