Lidocaine is the most often used local anaesthetic for local infiltration. It is generally considered to be safe and effective. It's used to give local anaesthetic before laceration repair or other painful operations like lumbar puncture. The pain associated with injection with lidocaine as a local anaesthetic is a disadvantage. A number of methods for minimising injection pain have been investigated. Lidocaine buffering to a neutral pH is thought to be useful in minimising injection pain. Lidocaine's anaesthetic potency is unaffected by buffering, and the resultant solution is stable.
