HealthDay News — For patients with fibromyalgia, use of intravenous lidocaine has no meaningful impact, according to a study published online June 16 in the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases.
Ana Laura Albertoni Giraldes, MD, from the Federal University of São Paulo in Brazil, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial involving patients with fibromyalgia. Participants were randomized to receive lidocaine in saline solution or saline solution once a week for four weeks. All patients received amitriptyline for 8 weeks. Patients underwent pain assessment, completed the fibromyalgia impact questionnaire, and had levels of interleukins (IL) 1, 6, and 8 measured before and after treatment.
The researchers found that the lidocaine group had lower pain intensity at week 2 of treatment, but not at other time points assessed during 8 weeks. Both groups experienced a reduction in pain intensity at 8 weeks after the start of treatment. There was no difference between the groups in use of acetaminophen and tramadol, or in plasma levels of IL-1, -6, and -8. There was no difference between the groups in clinical manifestations or side effects.
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“The combination of 240 mg of intravenous lidocaine (once a week for 4 weeks) with 25 mg of amitriptyline for 8 weeks had no meaningful impact in fibromyalgia patients,” the authors write.
Reference
- Giraldes ALA, Salomao R, da Cunha Leal P, et al. Effect of intravenous lidocaine combined with amitriptyline on pain intensity, clinical manifestations and the concentrations of IL-1, IL-6, and IL-8 in patients with fibromyalgia: A randomized double-blind study. Int J Rheum Dis. 2016; doi: 10.1111/1756-185X.12904
