Local Anesthetics: Roxanne Jeen L. Fornolles, M.D

Local Anesthetics
Roxanne Jeen L. Fornolles, M.D.

Anatomy of Nerves
Electrophysiology of Neural Conduction and
Voltage-gated Sodium
Channels
 The resting membrane potential, approximately −60 to −70 mV in neurons.
 Neurons at rest are more permeable to potassium ions than sodium ions
because of potassium leak channels.
 An action potential is initiated by local membrane depolarization, such as at
the cell body or nerve terminal by a ligand–receptor complex.
 “ALL OR NONE FASHION”
 The spike in membrane potential peaks around +50 mV, at which point the influx
of sodium is replaced with an efflux of potassium, causing a reversal of
membrane potential, or repolarization.
 The passive diffusion of membrane depolarization triggers other action
potentials in either adjacent cell membranes in nonmyelinated nerve fibers or
adjacent nodes of Ranvier in myelinated nerve fibers, resulting in a wave of
action potential being propagated along the nerve.
 Refractory period- after each action potential prevents the retrograde
spread of action potential on previously activated membranes.
 Each voltage-gated sodium channel is a complex made up of one
principal α-subunit and one or more auxiliary β-subunits.
 The α-subunit is a single-polypeptide transmembrane protein that contains
most of the key components of the channel function.
Molecular Mechanisms of Local
Anesthetics
 Application of local anesthetics typically produces a concentration
dependent decrease in the peak sodium current.
 Tonic blockade- reduction in the number of sodium channels for a given
drug concentration present in the open state at equilibrium.
 Use-dependent blockade—repetitive stimulation of the sodium channels
often leads to a shift in the steady-state equilibrium, resulting in a greater
number of channels being blocked at the same drug concentration.
 Mechanism is incompletely understood and has been the subject of many
competing hypotheses.
 Modulated-receptor theory- proposes that local anesthetics bind to the
open or the inactivated channels more avidly than the resting channels,
suggesting that drug affinity is a function of a channel’s conformational
state.
 Alternate theory: Guarded receptor theory- assumes that the intrinsic
binding affinity remains essentially constant regardless of a channel’s
conformation; rather, the apparent affinity is associated with increased
access to the recognition site resulting from channel gating.
Mechanism of Nerve Blockade
 The degree of nerve blockade depends on the local anesthetic
concentration and volume. For a given drug, a minimal concentration is
necessary to effect complete nerve blockade.
 It reflects the potency of the local anesthetics and the intrinsic conduction
properties of nerve fibers, which in turn likely depend on the drug’s binding
affinity to the ion channels and the degree of drug saturation necessary to
halt the transmission of action potentials.
 Of equal importance as drug concentration is the local anesthetic volume.
 A sufficient volume is needed to suppress the regeneration of nerve impulse
over a critical length of nerve fiber.
 It has long been observed that application of local anesthetics produces
an ordered progression of sensory and motor deficits, starting commonly
with the disappearance of temperature sensation, followed in order by
proprioception, motor function, sharp pain, and finally light touch.
 Differential blockade
Pharmacology and
Pharmacodynamics
Additives to Increase Local Anesthetic
Activity
 Epinephrine
 Prolongs local anesthetic block
 Increases intensity of block
 Decreases systemic absorption of local anesthetic
 Augments local anesthesia by antagonizing inherent vasodilation effects
 Decreases systemic absorption and intraneural clearance by redistributing
intraneural anesthetics
 Alkalinization of local anesthetic solution
 Alkalinized to hasen onset of neural block
 pH of commercial perp: 3.9-6.5
 Acidic if prepackaged with epinephrine
 pKa of commonly used local anesthetic 7.6-8.9, less than 3% exist as lipid-soluble
neutral form
 Neutral form-important for penetration into the neural cytoplasm
 Charged: interacts with the local anesthetic receptor within the Na+ channel
 Opioids
 Spinal administration of opioids provides analgesia by attenuating C- fiber
nociception and is independent of supraspinal mechanisms
 Co-administration with central neuraxial= Synergistic Analgesia except for
CHLORPORCAINE (decrease effectiveness of opioids co-admin epidurally
 Buprenorphine- may enhance and prolong post-op analgesia better than either
local anesthesia alone or local anesthesia with IM Buprenorphine
 Beta 2 Adrenergic Agonists
 α2-specific agonists such as clonidine produce analgesia via supraspinal and
spinal adrenergic receptors
 Clonidine also has direct inhibitory effects on peripheral nerve conduction (A
and C nerve fibers).
 Steroids
 Experiments have shown that addition of dexamethasone to the mixture
prolongs the conduction block after peripheral nerve application
 Combined with intermediately-long acting dexameth extends the duration of
analgesia by 50% after supraclavicular/interscalene approaches to the brachial
plexus.
 Liposomes
 Provide sustained release of encapsulated bupivacaine after a single
administration.
 Most freq. reported effects of liposomal bupivacaine: nausea and pyrexia

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Roxanne Jeen L. Fornolles, M.D.

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