The U.S. Food and Drug Administration places injectable lidocaine in “Pregnancy Category B”.

That means that animal studies have not found that injectable lidocaine causes harm to the fetus, but that no adequate studies have been done in pregnant women.

Animal studies, the FDA notes, do not necessarily predict what would happen in humans.

But it important to keep in mind that most drugs are not tested in pregnant women because it would be considered unethical to conduct such experiments, since you would not know the risk to the fetus.

For that reason, regulators usually rely on animal studies.

The FDA notes in that in rat studies doses up to 6.6 times the human dose have found no evidence of harm to the fetus.

That said, because lidocaine is a category B drug, physicians are advised: “General consideration should be given to this fact before administering lidocaine HCl to women of childbearing potential, especially during early pregnancy when maximum organogenesis takes place.”

LocalHealthGuide does not give out medical advice, so the best course is to speak with your healthcare provider about your concerns.

Here is the text from the FDA label for lidocaine:

Pregnancy

Teratogenic Effects: Pregnancy Category B. Reproduction studies have been performed in rats at doses up to 6.6 times the human dose and have revealed no evidence of harm to the fetus caused by lidocaine HCl. There are, however, no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of human response. General consideration should be given to this fact before administering lidocaine HCl to women 8 of childbearing potential, especially during early pregnancy when maximum organogenesis takes place.

Here is the link to the full document on the FDA Web site: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2010/006488s074lbl.pdf

Hope this is helpful.

LocalHealthGuide