Cardiovascular effects of procaine and lidocaine (xylocaine) during general anesthesia

The cardiovascular effects of intravenous procaine and lidocaine were compared in two series of patients under nitrous-oxide-thiobarbiturate anesthesia. The arterial blood pressure and electrocardiogram of these patients were continuously monitored while standarized doses of 2.2 mg/kg and 1.1 mg/kg of the test drug were administered. It was found that procaine administration was followed by cardiovascular depression in 50 % of the doses administered, while a blood pressure increase was noted following 47 % of the lidocaine injections. The lack of vasomotor depression with the administration of lidocaine is advantageous when this agent is used to supplement general anesthesia.     

Consistency of Reported Levels of Alcohol-related Problems in the Community

Regular drinkers identified in a general population survey of adults in the Lothian region were followed up 3 or 4 years later, with respect to alcohol-related problems. Using a variety of analytic methods, a moderate degree of temporal consistency in problems was found, for total number of problems, and for individual problems, with feeling ashamed of having done something while drunk being the most consistent.