Local anesthesia in the skin occurs at least one hour after application of a commercial topical formulation of lidocaine and prilocaine prepared as a eutectic mixture. In this study, we prepared a lidocaine-ibuprofen ionic liquid and found that local anesthesia of skin was achieved within 15 min in rats with no apparent adverse effects to the skin. The preparation of an ionic liquid was verified by NMR, calorimetry and electrical conductivity. Addition of even a small amount of DI water appeared to cause dissociation of the ionic liquid into dissolved ions, as shown by an increase in electrical conductivity. We believe that the lidocaine-ibuprofen ionic liquid increased lidocaine absorption into the skin due to the high lidocaine concentration in the liquid and due to possible interactions between the ionic liquid and the skin to increase skin permeability.  These findings suggest that ionic liquids may provide a novel approach to transdermal drug delivery.

Lidocaine-ibuprofen ionic liquid for dermal anesthesia

248th National Meeting (2014)

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