Reports of local anesthetic poisonings decreased 2011 to 2022, but reports of lidocaine poisoning increased since 2010 advisories
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 15, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Poisonings and deaths linked to use of local anesthetics decreased over the last decade, but poisonings from lidocaine increased, according to two studies published online recently in Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine and the British Journal of Anaesthesia.
Michael Fettiplace, M.D., from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues analyzed reports of local anesthetic poisoning and mortality from the American Poison Centers National Poison Data System from 1983 to 2022 to examine the effect of the 2010 advisories for treating local anesthetic systemic toxicity. Reports were compared from 2011 to 2022 relative to 2001 to 2010. The researchers found that reports of local anesthetic poisoning decreased in 2011 to 2022 relative to 2001 to 2010 (reporting odds ratio [ROR], 0.77), driven by a decrease in non-lidocaine-related reports. In contrast, after 2010, there was an increase in reports of lidocaine poisoning and reports of lidocaine mortality (ROR, 2.7).
In a second study, Fettiplace and colleagues examined local anesthesia-associated deaths reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System from 1968 to 2023. Adverse events from local anesthetics were compared to those from other drugs. The researchers identified 22,050 total adverse events from local anesthetics and 1,473 reports of death. Reports of death were lower for amide and ester local anesthetics compared with other agents (RORs, 0.4 and 0.12, respectively). Death from lidocaine was reported most often. Reporting of death from long-acting local anesthetics decreased after practice advisories compared with the previous 10 years (ROR, 0.61), while death from lidocaine remained unchanged.
“We think if we have updated advisories that are more targeted to some of the problems that we see occurring now, those may have impacts 10 years down the line,” Fettiplace said in a statement.
One author from both studies disclosed ties to ResQ Pharma Inc.
Abstract/Full Text — Study 1
Abstract/Full Text — Study 2
Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)
Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
