Simultaneous determination of lidocaine and its principal metabolites by liquid chromatography on silica gel, with aqueous eluent.

We describe the simultaneous determination of lidocaine and its pharmacologically active metabolites, monoethylglycinexylidide and glycinexylidide, in plasma by "high-performance" liquid-chromatography. By use of a bare ( unbonded ) silica gel with aqueous eluents, separations of organic amines such as lidocaine and its metabolites, which are very difficult and have a poor peak symmetry on bonded reversed-phase packings, were easily accomplished with a good peak symmetry. The method is sufficiently precise, sensitive, and specific. Analytical recoveries of all compounds were greater than 90%; CVs for reproducibility were less than 5% for all compounds; the lower detection limits were 0.1 mg/L or less. This method can be used to monitor the concentrations of these compounds in plasma and to prevent the concentration-related side-effect(s).