Mepivacaine: update on an evergreen local anaesthetic.

Many local anaesthetics are presently available for clinical use. The choice of a particular agent for a particular regional anaesthetic is based mainly on its clinical and pharmacological features. Besides these, safety of drugs and the knowledge of side effects associated with their use can play a major role, since serious complications can be related to local anaesthetics administration. Pharmacologic features of mepivacaine are: its amide structure (therefore it is not detoxified by circulating plasma esterases), its rapid metabolism, which take place into the liver, and its rapid excretion via the kidneys. Clinically, mepivacaine shows: short onset time, very close to lidocaine, intermediate duration and low toxicity. Mepivacaine can be therefore considered as a first choice agent for peripheral nerve blocks, particularly in high cardiac risk patients.