Intravenous Lidocaine as Adjunctive Therapy in the Treatment of Decompression Illness, , , ,

Two cases of severe decompression illness for which IV lidocaine was used as adjunctive therapy to recompression and hyperbaric oxygen therapy are described. The first patient demonstrated improvement only after lidocaine was added to her treatment; the second had essentially complete recovery after only a single treatment despite severe symptoms and a significant delay in presentation. These cases support the need for a controlled clinical trial of lidocaine as an adjunct to hyperbaric therapy in decompression illness. [Cogar WB: Intravenous lidocaine as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of decompression illness. Ann Emerg Med February 1997;29:284-286.]