Journal of pharmacological and toxicological methods
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J Pharmacol Toxicol Methods · Jan 2000
An in vivo method for the quantitative evaluation of local anesthetics.
We describe a mouse model for evaluation of skin anesthesia after infiltration of local anesthetic. The method involves subcutaneous injection of the anesthetic over the abdomen, and monitoring the vocalization response to electrical stimulus as a measure of analgesia. Prior to drug injection, the vocalization threshold was determined. ⋯ To further validate the model, we compared the duration of anesthesia between the 0.5% bupivacaine and a new long-acting liposomal formulation of 2% bupivacaine. The results showed that the new formulation significantly prolonged the duration of anesthesia (p<0.05). This simple and reliable method may facilitate research on the pharmacology of infiltration anesthesia and the development of new local anesthetics and/or formulations.