The effects of lignocaine spray on the laryngeal mucosa of the cat

Abstract

The laryngeal mucosa of cats which had been treated with a lignocaine aerosol spray prior to endotracheal intubation was examined histologically. A degree of oedema and cell damage was apparent. When one side of the larynx was sprayed before intubation and the other side protected in the same cat, cellular damage was greater on the side which received the lignocaine spray. In no cat were the changes considered severe enough to constitute a post-anaesthetic hazard.