Pregnancy & Lactation : הריון/הנקה

4.6 Fertility, pregnancy and lactation

Pregnancy
There are no or a limited amount of data from the use of lidocaine in pregnant women. Animal studies do not indicate direct or indirect harmful effects with respect to reproductive toxicity (see 5.3). However, lidocaine rapidly crosses the placenta. Therefore high plasma concentrations of lidocaine in the mother's plasma may cause central nervous depression, alteration of the peripheral vascular tone and cardiac function in the foetus/neonate.
Lidocaine should only be used in pregnancy if there is an imperative indication. Then doses should be as low as possible.

Local and regional anaesthesia
Use of lidocaine for epidural, pudendal, caudal or paracervical block may cause varying degrees of foetal and neonatal toxicity (e.g. bradycardia, hypotonia or respiratory depression). An accidental subcutaneous injection of lidocaine in the foetus during paracervical or perineal block may cause apnoea, hypotension and convulsive fits and may thus put the new-born at vital risk.

In general lidocaine in strengths of 10 mg/ml should be preferred during pregnancy.

Breastfeeding
Lidocaine/metabolites are excreted in small amounts into human milk but at therapeutic doses of 1% w/v lidocaine hydrochloride injection no effects on the breast-fed newborns/infants are anticipated.

Fertility
No data available