PHARMACOLOGY - General and Local anaesthesia

It seems strange putting this subject in this course, as dental surgeons are probably the biggest prescribers of local anaesthetic that there is.

All we want to remind colleagues about is that local anaesthetic works by getting through the lipid membrane of the nerve and poisoning the pump. 

 acid-base balance upsets the Hendersen Hasselbach  equation which means that the local anaesthetic does not get into the nerves.

This is why if you inject local in an area of infection which is acidic, it tends not to work.

 When you inject local anaesthetic into wounds, you commonly infiltrate around the wound. If infected then you need to be aware that the local may not work.

ADRENALINE

As you know with dental local comes adrenaline. You can buy and  large use dental local around the rest of the body.

 Important exception.  you must not use local with adrenaline in appendages, that includes the ear, digits, and hopefully this will not happen to you, penis.