Articaine: a review of its use for local and regional anesthesia

rticaine: a review of its use for local and regional anesthesia Review (2000) Total Article Views Authors: Snoeck M Published Date June 2012 Volume 2012:5 Pages 23 - 33 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/LRA.S16682 Received: 07 March 2012 Accepted: 19 April 2012 Published: 05 June 2012 Marc Snoeck Department of Anaesthesia, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Abstract: Articaine is an intermediate-potency, short-acting amide local anesthetic with a fast metabolism due to an ester group in its structure. It is effective with local infiltration or peripheral nerve block in dentistry, when administered as a spinal, epidural, ocular, or regional nerve block, or when injected intravenously for regional anesthesia. In comparative trials, its clinical effects were not generally significantly different from those of other short-acting local anesthetics like lidocaine, prilocaine, and chloroprocaine, and there is no conclusive evidence demonstrating above-average neurotoxicity. Articaine proved to be suitable and safe for procedures requiring a short duration of action in which a fast onset of anesthesia is desired, eg, dental procedures and ambulatory spinal anesthesia, in normal and in special populations.