Antimicrobial activity of a lidocaine preparation

A preparation commonly used as a local anesthetic in dentistry has been studied for the presence of antimicrobial activity. The solution, 2% Xylocaine®, with 1:100,000 epinephrine, was shown to inhibit the growth of certain organisms and to be cidal to others. Its cidal activity was significantly less than that of 2% Xylocaine without epinephrine (p < .05). Both solutions demonstrated statistically significant cidal activity when compared to controls (p < .005).