Intravenous lidocaine for Fibromyalgia Syndrome

A recent study has found that intravenous lidocaine infusions are safe and effective in the management of Fibromyalgia Syndrome. ¹

The study aimed to investigate the effect of intravenous infusions of lidocaine on both pain and quality of life of patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome (Fibro).

Twenty-three Fibro patients took part in the study, and received 5 intravenous infusions, one a day for 5 days, of a 2% lidocaine solution. The dosages of lidocaine given in the infusion were increased over the 5 day period from 2mg per kilogram bodyweight to 5mg per kilogram of bodyweight.

Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Health Assessment Questionnaire, and a visual pain analog scale (VAS) were used to measure the pain levels and quality if life of the patients. These assessments were carried out before the first lidocaine infusion, immediately after the fifth infusion and 30 days after the fifth infusion.

A significant improvement was observed in the FIQ scores after the fifth infusion, with FIQ scores dropping from 73.52 (out of 100) +/- 16.56 to 63.29 +/- 21.21 (p = 0.02). This improvement was maintained after 30 days, when the FIQ scores were 63.85 +/- 24.59 (p = 0.04). Similar results were seen with the VAS scores, which dropped from 8.19 (on a 0 to 10 scale) +/- 1.76 to 6.84 +/- 2.44 (p = 0.01) after the fifth infusion and remained lower than before the infusions, 30 days after the fifth infusion, when the VAS scores were 7.17 +/- 2.35 (p = 0.05). ¹

The researchers concluded that:

"Intravenous lidocaine infusions are safe and effective in the management of fibromyalgia." ¹

It should be noted that this was not a placebo controlled trial, so some of the beneficial effect seen may be due to a placebo effect.

References:

1. Schafranski MD, Malucelli T, Machado F, Takeshi H, Kaiber F, Schmidt C, Harth F. Intravenous lidocaine for fibromyalgia syndrome: an open trial. Clin Rheumatol. 2009 Mar 5. [Epub ahead of print]