Effects of repeated bupivacaine administration on sciatic nerve and surrounding muscle tissue in rats.
The effects of repeated administration of 0.5% bupivacaine or saline into the sciatic notch of rats were studied by light microscopy, electron microscopy and a neurophysiological technique. Very severe myositis, including local necrosis, developed in six of 12 rats treated twice daily with 1 ml bupivacaine for either 3 or 7 days. A 3-h infusion of 1.5 ml 0.5% bupivacaine resulted in minor injury to muscle tissue. A marked degree of disruption and vacuolization of myelin sheaths was evident in nerves exposed to bupivacaine for 3 days. Lymphocyte accumulation was confined to the area surrounding the nervous tissue in 7 of 10 of the preparations from rats treated for 3 days or by a 3-h infusion. No histological changes were detected in nerve and muscle tissue from the opposite extremity exposed to saline. After a recovery period of 3 weeks, no differences in the nerve or muscle histology were seen between samples from bupivacaine- or saline-treated animals. The amplitude of the compound action potential of sciatic nerves was, however, significantly lower after bupivacaine treatment (7 days, 1 ml twice daily). Thus, impaired function may continue despite the lack of histological intraneural injury.
D000818:Animals; D002045:Bupivacaine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009132:Muscles / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure
D002045:Bupivacaine