Use of Lidocaine in Rapid Sequence Induction

Lidocaine has been shown to blunt the cardiovascular response to endotracheal intubation. The incidence of hypertension, tachycardia and dysrhythmias due to laryngoscopy may be increased in patients that receive rapid sequence induction and intubation, where opioids are spared and intravenous anesthetic agents are not titrated step by step. Our hypothesis was that lidocaine when administered intravenously in patients who undergo rapid sequence induction may not only blunt the hemodynamic response to intubation, but may also increase the anesthetic depth (as assessed by BIS), thus further reducing the possibility of hypertension, arrhythmias and also awareness.