Local Anesthetics Overview Flashcards
(121 cards)
What do local anesthetics produce?
a class of drugs that produce transient, reversible loss of sensory, motor, and autonomic function when exposed to neural tissue, specifically central and peripheral nerve pathways
LA uses: what type of block is produced?
central or peripheral nerves (for anesthesia and/or analgesia)
LA uses: what is the MOA of local anesthetic nerve blocks?
(regional anesthesia): target specific nerve regions of the body for reversible loss of sensation (spinal, epidural, caudal, major nerve blocks)
What are some alternative uses for LA?
- Topical application to skin/mucous membranes
- Infiltration into the tissue
- IV infusions (lidocaine) for cardiac dysrhythmias
What is the origin of local anesthetics?
Erythroxylon coca, leaves of the cocoa shrub
Who was the first to use a version of local anesthetics?
Native Peruvians would chew an alkali abstract of these leaves for its stimulant and euphoric effects
What is Erythroxylon coca an ancestor to?
modern day cocaine
What is the history of LA in 1860?
Albert Niemann, a chemist, the first to isolated cocaine
What is the history of LA in 1884?
Karl Koller introduced cocaine as an ophthalmologic anesthetic
What is true about early use of cocaine?
- Widely used despite strong addictive properties (1884)
- Only available local anesthetic for 30 years
What is the history of LA in 1905?
Albert Einhorn synthesized procaine, an ester, which replaced cocaine as the only available local anesthetic for the next 50 years
What is the history of LA in 1943?
Nils Lofgren synthesized lidocaine, an amide, considered to be the standard to which all other local anesthetics are compared
Define epineurium.
the external connective-tissue sheath of a nerve trunk
Define perineurium,
the sheath of connective tissue surrounding a bundle (fascicle) of nerve fibers within a nerve.
Define endoneurium.
the delicate connective tissue network holding together the individual fibers of a nerve trunk.
What are the major type of nerve fibers layers?
epineurium, perineurium and endoneurium
What is unique about nerve tissues?
that it possesses membrane bound, voltage gated sodium and potassium channels
What do nerve tissues produce?
membrane depolarization following chemical, mechanical, or electrical stimuli
What do neurons maintain?
a resting membrane potential by active transport and passive diffusion of ions, particularly Na+ and K+
What is the Na/K pump?
pump (via active transport) modulates the transport of 3 Na+ ions that move extracellularly for every 2 K+ ions that move intracellularly
What does the cell membrane create?
creates a concentration gradient that preferentially favors the extracellular diffusion of K+ and the intracellular diffusion of Na+
What controls ion influx and efflux?
Membrane bound voltage gates
What is true about the membrane bound voltage gates?
assume a conformational change, allowing sodium and potassium to move across a cell membrane
What does the cell membrane consist of?
of a lipid bilayer, lipophilic, hydrophobic


