Injectable local anesthetic shows promise for prolonged pain relief without toxicity
April 13, 2009
Boston, Mass. -- Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have developed a slow-release anesthetic drug-delivery system that could potentially revolutionize treatment of pain during and after surgery, and may also have a large impact on chronic pain management.
In NIH-funded work, they used specially designed fat-based particles called liposomes to package saxitoxin, a potent anesthetic, and produced long-lasting local anesthesia in rats without apparent toxicity to nerve or muscle cells. The research will be published online on April 13 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
