Serum lidocaine levels during arthroscopy using continuous irrigation with lidocaine.
1988Clinical orthopaedics and related research
Massey T, Huang TL, Malinick R, Zell M
Plain English
The study looked at how lidocaine, a local anesthetic, behaves in the bloodstream of 40 patients undergoing knee surgery while receiving continuous irrigation with a diluted lidocaine solution. The researchers found that lidocaine levels in patients ranged from none to 2.5 micrograms per milliliter, with an average of 0.6 micrograms per milliliter, and no patients experienced any harmful side effects. This matters because it shows that using lidocaine in this way is safe and effective for patients having knee surgery in an outpatient setting.
Who this helps: This helps patients undergoing knee surgery and their doctors.