title: Pain management via local anesthetics and responsive hydrogels.
abstract: Acute and chronic pain control is a significant clinical challenge that has been largely unmet. Local anesthetics are widely used for the control of post-operative pain and in the therapy of acute and chronic pain. While a variety of approaches are currently used to prolong the duration of action of local anesthetics, an optimal strategy to achieve neural blockage for several hours to days with minimal toxicity has yet to be identified. Several drug delivery systems such as liposomes, microparticles and nanoparticles have been investigated as local anesthetic delivery vehicles to achieve prolonged anesthesia. Recently, injectable responsive hydrogels raise significant interest for the localized delivery of anesthetic molecules. This paper discusses the potential of injectable hydrogels to prolong the action of local anesthetics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Kyle R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Bagshaw
authors.forename: Curt L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hanenbaum
authors.forename: Erica J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Carbone
authors.forename: Kevin W H
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: Cato T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Laurencin
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Lakshmi S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Nair
mesh_terms: D059787:Acute Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels; D007267:Injections; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D020100:Hydrogels