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Review
. 2021 Sep 29:15:4091-4103.
doi: 10.2147/DDDT.S328228. eCollection 2021.

Topical Lidocaine for Chronic Pain Treatment

Marion Voute  1 , Véronique Morel  1 , Gisèle Pickering  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Topical Lidocaine for Chronic Pain Treatment

Marion Voute et al. Drug Des Devel Ther. .

Abstract

Topical lidocaine is widely used in current practice for a variety of pain conditions. This literature review shows that its limited absorption and relative lack of systemic adverse events are an attractive analgesic option for a number of vulnerable patients. Topical lidocaine has been approved by health authorities for the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia in a number of countries, and studies present some degree of evidence of its efficacy and safety in postsurgical pain, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic lower back pain and osteoarthritis. Topical lidocaine may be a great alternative alone or in addition to systemic drugs and non-pharmacological approaches for an optimized pain management and in multimodal analgesia.

Keywords: lidocaine plaster; local; musculoskeletal pain; neuropathic pain; topical.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the literature on topical lidocaine.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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