RESUMO
The effect of the benzodiazepine midazolam on the intravenous toxicity of lidocaine with and without epinephrine was studied in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Test rats with and control rats without midazolam premedication (2.5 mg/kg intraperitoneally, 10% of the median dose that caused loss of the righting reflex in a third group of rats) were given 2% lidocaine with and without 10 micrograms/ml epinephrine intravenously in doses sufficient to construct log-dose response curves for both convulsant and lethal responses. In control rats the median convulsant dose (CD50) of lidocaine was 15.2 mg/kg given alone and 10.9 mg/kg with epinephrine (a statistically significant difference); respective values for the median lethal dose (LD50) were 26.4 and 18.5 mg/kg (also statistically significant). While epinephrine enhanced lidocaine seizure activity and lethality by approximately 50%, midazolam almost completely prevented lidocaine-induced convulsions but had no significant effect on mortality.