Lidocaine - Dosage Forms

Dosage Forms

Lidocaine, usually in the form of lidocaine hydrochloride, is available in various forms including:

• Injected local anesthetic (sometimes combined with epinephrine to reduce bleeding)
• Dermal patch (sometimes combined with prilocaine)
• Intravenous injection
• Intravenous infusion
• Nasal instillation/spray (combined with phenylephrine)
• Oral gel (often referred to as "viscous lidocaine" or abbreviated "lidocaine visc" or "lidocaine hcl visc" in pharmacology; used as teething gel)
• Oral liquid
• Oral and topical ointments, with and without flavoring, respectively
• Topical gel (as with Aloe vera gels that include lidocaine)
• Topical liquid
• Topical patch (lidocaine 5%), marketed since 1999 in the US by Endo Pharmaceuticals as "Lidoderm" - and since 2007 in the UK by Grünenthal as "Versatis"
• Topical aerosol spray
• Inhaled via a nebulizer
• As a component of a GI cocktail used in emergency rooms