Topical Lidocaine During Airway Manipulation in Pediatric Anesthesia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Lidocaine is widely used in pediatric anesthesia for airway topicalization to modulate undesirable airway and circulatory reflexes, yet its effectiveness remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to perform a meta-analysis evaluating the impact of topical lidocaine on respiratory adverse events in children undergoing airway management.

PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases were systematically searched for studies comparing topical lidocaine with placebo, no intervention, or intravenous lidocaine for pediatric airway management. Statistical analysis was performed using R (version 4.4.1). Odds ratios (ORs) were used for binary outcomes and mean differences for continuous outcomes, with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) computed using a random-effects model.

Fourteen randomized controlled trials comprising 1937 pediatric patients were included, of whom 917 (47%) received airway topicalization. In those receiving topical lidocaine, there was a significant reduction in the incidence of laryngospasm (OR 0.50; 95% CI 0.27 to 0.95; p = 0.033), desaturation (OR 0.49; 95% CI 0.25 to 0.98; p = 0.043), and sore throat (OR 0.31; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.58; p < 0.001). However, no significant differences were observed for bronchospasm (OR 0.50; 95% CI 0.11 to 2.35; p = 0.382), cough (OR 0.56; 95% CI 0.28 to 1.11; p = 0.099), severe cough (OR 1.30; 95% CI 0.18 to 9.51; p = 0.793), hoarseness (OR 1.41; 95% CI 0.17 to 11.96; p = 0.754), vomiting (OR 1.95; 95% CI 0.47 to 7.99; p = 0.355), and heart rate (beats/min) (MD 0.08; 95% CI -6.31 to 6.47; p = 0.98).

Our findings suggest that topical lidocaine may reduce the incidence of undesirable airway reflexes such as laryngospasm, desaturation, and sore throat in children undergoing airway management. However, its benefit for other perioperative respiratory adverse events requires further investigation, especially in high-risk populations.

PROSPERO registration number: CRD42024614863.