Effect of Intravenous Infusion of Lidocaine on Pain Reduction after Cesarean Section under General Anesthesia

<p><strong>Background:</strong> The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Lidocaine on pain reduction during and ileus and the need for opioids after caesarean section.</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> For this randomized double-blind controlled clinical trial, 40 ASA I, II pregnant women who were candidates for caesarean section with general anesthesia, were randomly allocated into two groups of Lidocaine receivers and placebo using randomized block design; the Lidocaine group received 1.5 mg/kg of Lidocaine right before the surgery and then its infusion with a dose of 2 mg/kg.h until the end of the surgery and the placebo group received normal saline with the same volume and application. Patients’ pain intensity was measured using numerical rating scale (NRS), 0 (entering the recovery), 0.5, 1, 4, 12 and 24 hours after the surgery.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> Lidocaine decreased the systolic and diastolic pressures of the patients only during the first minute after intubation, decreased the mean of arterial blood pressure at the 10^th minute after intubation and 40^th minute after surgery, and also decreased the mean of patients’ pain intensity, Diclofenac and Pethidine consumption, side effects (nausea and vomiting) and reduced the time interval before the first time of tolerating oral liquids; but it had effect on infants’ Apgar score 1 and 5 minutes after delivery.</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Lidocaine was definitely effective on reducing the intensity of pain, opioid and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs consumption and ileus after surgery with the least occurrence of side effects for mothers and infants.