The Annals of pharmacotherapy
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To report 2 cases of transitory cerebellar ataxia related to lidocaine administered topically for endoscopy. case summaries: Two patients developed transitory cerebellar ataxia a few minutes after local anesthesia using lidocaine 10% spray and lidocaine 2% orally for a bronchoscopy and transesophageal echocardiography. This effect completely disappeared in 3-5 hours. In neither case was an alternate etiology of cerebellar ataxia identified. The second patient had previously experienced a similar reaction to lidocaine. ⋯ Cerebellar ataxia may occur after local anesthesia with lidocaine; therefore, care must be taken to avoid overdose, even when administered topically.