L-bupivacaine Inhibition of Nociceptive Transmission in Rat Peripheral and Dorsal Horn Neurons

Background Although the widely used single L-enantiomers of local anesthetics have less toxic effects on the cardiovascular and central nervous systems, the mechanisms mediating their antinociceptive actions are not well understood. The authors hypothesized that significant differences in the ion channel blocking abilities of the enantiomers of bupivacaine would be identified. Methods The authors performed electrophysiologic analysis on rat...