Neural correlates of systemic lidocaine administration in healthy adults measured by functional MRI: a single arm open label study.

INTRODUCTION

Intravenous lidocaine is increasingly used as a nonopioid analgesic, but how it acts in the brain is incompletely understood. We conducted a functional MRI study of pain response, resting connectivity, and cognitive task performance in volunteers to elucidate the effects of lidocaine at the brain-systems level.

METHODS

We enrolled 27 adults (age 22-55 yr) in this single-arm, open-label study. Pain response task and resting-state functional MRI scans at 3 T were obtained at baseline and then with a constant effect-site concentration of lidocaine. Electric nerve stimulation, titrated in advance to 7/10 intensity, was used for the pain task (five times every 10 s). Group-level differences in pain task-evoked responses (primary outcome, focused on the insula) and in resting connectivity were compared between baseline and lidocaine conditions, using adjusted P<0.05 to account for multiple comparisons. Pain ratings and performance on a brief battery of computer-based tasks were also recorded.

RESULTS

Lidocaine infusion was associated with decreased pain-evoked responses in the insula (left: Z=3.6, P<0.001, right: Z=3.6, P=0.004) and other brain areas including the cingulate gyrus, thalamus, and primary sensory cortex. Resting-state connectivity showed significant diffuse reductions in both region-to-region and global connectivity measures with lidocaine. Small decreases in pain intensity and unpleasantness and worse memory performance were also seen with lidocaine.

CONCLUSIONS

Lidocaine was associated with broad reductions in functional MRI response to acute pain and modulated whole-brain functional connectivity, predominantly decreasing long-range connectivity. This was accompanied by small but significant decreases in pain perception and memory performance.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT05501600.