Do local anesthetics have antibacterial effect on Staphylococcus aureus under in vivo conditions? An experimental study.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The antimicrobial properties against Staphylococcus aureus of some common local anesthetic preparations such as prilocaine, bupivacaine, articaine, and combinations were evaluated in a live rat surgical wound model. METHODS: This study was conducted at the animal research laboratory of Eskisehir Osmangazi University in 2003. Clean surgical wounds were created after local anesthetic application and inoculated with S. aureus (10(2) colony forming units/mL). Four days later, tissue cultures were harvested from control animals and animals given local anesthetic to determine the quantity of bacteria. RESULTS: The tissue cultures demonstrated that none of the local anesthetics used in the study showed any inhibitory or bactericidal activity on S. aureus. There was no statistical difference in bacterial count between the local anesthetic-treated and control group wounds. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study did not show any antimicrobial activity of above-mentioned local anesthetics in surgically created wounds of rats.