Effect of intravenous lidocaine on experimental spinal cord injury.

A series of experiments was conducted to study the effect of systemic intravenous administration of lidocaine on neurological recovery after acute experimental spinal cord injury in cats. The spinal cord was injured by the rapid inflation of an epidural balloon at T-6. The physiological integrity of the spinal cord ceased within 2 seconds in all animals, as demonstrated by acute disappearance of the somatosensory evoked response (SER). There was essentially no return of the SER in the five untreated animals when monitored for 4 hours post-injury. All of the pathological specimens from these animals revealed severe central cord hemorrhage. Intravenous lidocaine was begun 15 minutes after the injury in five animals. Three of these animals had significant return of the SER. The pathological specimens from the lidocaine-treated animals revealed either mild or moderate central cord hemorrhage. The results of this experiment suggest that systemic lidocaine administration has a significant beneficial effect in the treatment of acute spinal cord injury.