Intranasal Anesthetics Offer Alternative to Needles

Intranasal Anesthetics Offer Alternative to Needles

Recent research shows a common local anesthetic, when administered as nose drops or nasal spray, could lead to a new generation of intranasal drugs for noninvasive treatment for dental pain, migraine and other conditions.

Results of the study are scheduled to appear in the May/June issue of Molecular Pharmaceuticals, in which William H. Frey II, PhD, and colleagues note that drugs administered to the nose travel along nerves routed directly to the brain. One of those nerves is the trigeminal nerve, which innervates the face, nose and mouth.

According to the American Chemical Society, Neil Johnson, working in the labs of Frey and Leah R. Hanson, PhD, at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., found that when sprayed into the noses of laboratory rats lidocaine or Xylocaine quickly traveled down the trigeminal nerve and collected in the animals teeth, jaws and mouths at levels 20 times higher than in the blood or brain. The approach could provide a more effective and targeted method for treating dental pain/anxiety, trigeminal neuralgia (severe facial pain), migraine and other conditions, the scientists say.

This group of researchers report they have also discovered an improved future location to administer anesthetic: the maxillary sinus. The maxillary sinus is a golf ball-sized space located underneath each cheek where a drug can be sprayed. Delivery into this confined space may be the next-generation approach beyond a nasal spray in providing a more rapid and focused delivery of anesthetic.