Prenatal lidocaine and the auditory evoked responses in term infants
M. Diaz, M. Graff, I. M. Hiatt, S. Friedman, B. Ostfeld and T. Hegyi
Department of Pediatrics, Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, NJ.
We examined the effects of maternal lidocaine hydrochloride anesthesia on
the brain-stem auditory evoked responses (BAERs) in neonates born by
cesarean delivery. Sixteen term neonates were enrolled in the study. Eight
neonates were delivered by cesarean section following lidocaine anesthesia,
and eight were delivered by spontaneous vaginal delivery without maternal
anesthesia. A BAER was obtained on all of the neonates on the first day of
life. A significant delay was noted in the central neural component of the
BAER at 90 dB. The wave I through V interpeak latency for both ears was
noted to be 5.3 ms for the neonates exposed to lidocaine and 4.9 ms for the
controls.