This treatment requires you to attend Harworth Clinic for a morning or afternoon session where you will meet Dr Sampu and Infusion Nurses. 

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You will stay for the whole session for approximately 2 hours on the first time and slightly less for subsequent treatments. During the infusion you will be monitored using a heart monitor and your blood pressure, pulse and breathing will be recorded regularly throughout the session. 

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You will be allowed home when we are confident you have not suffered any significant side effects. The treatment works over many days so you will not know how effective it has been on the day. 

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You will be followed up by a pain specialist to assess how beneficial the treatment was after 4 treatments and discuss if the effectiveness and plan further treatments for the trial period of approximately 6 months.

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What are the side effects of a lidocaine infusion?

 Fortunately, serious side effects or complications are very rare and by being continuously monitored, the chances of problems arising are minimised. 

However, even at the recommended dose, side effects can occur. 

These include dizziness, headaches, drowsiness, tingling or numbness around your mouth, metallic taste, garbled speech, tunnel vision, ringing in your ears or a tremor, a sense of being drunk and nausea. If any of these side effects do occur, they usually disappear once the infusion is slowed down or stopped.

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Recognised potential complications of lidocaine infusions include low or high blood pressure, a slow or fast pulse rate, irregular heartbeats, fainting, seizures, or allergic reactions to lidocaine, which, in extremely rare cases, can lead to death.

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Benefits If this treatment helps then you may find a decrease in pain from severe to a more manageable level. You may be able to decrease the amount of pain medications you regularly consume, and you might be able to do more. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee you will benefit from this treatment. 

 

Is there anything I should or should not do?

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 ∙ You must not eat or drink for four hours before the procedure.
 

 ∙ It is especially important for you to tell us if you have had recent heart, liver or kidney problems, irregular heartbeats, abnormal ECG, seizure disorder or reactions to local anaesthetics. 
 

Also, if you are pregnant, it is not recommended that you have this procedure. 

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∙ You need to arrange for someone to take you home on the day of your treatment. Do not drive on the day of the procedure. You can usually begin normal activities the following day. 
 

∙ Take all your medicines as usual. 
 

∙ Keep your follow up appointment and a pain log over days and weeks following the procedure as this is the only way we will know if your infusion has worked. Your pain specialist will decide on the frequency of the infusions you can receive based on the effectiveness.