Viscous lidocaine as a posthemorrhoidectomy analgesic.

During hemorrhoidectomy, a standard 16-gauge plastic catheter was sutured to the operative site so that analgesic doses of viscous lidocaine solution could be delivered to the site for the first 36 hours postoperatively. Although 14 patients had urinary retention that necessitated catheterization, no complication was attributed to the analgesic method. Of 227 patients, 92 per cent were treated with this method plus orally administered nonnarcotic analgesics. Viscous lidocaine injected into the anus is concluded to provide safe, convenient analgesia following hemorrhoidectomy. Toxic reactions to lidocaine were not a problem because the doses were small, and the drug was used only intermittently over a period of 36 hours.