Lidocaine Infusion for the Treatment of Headache Associated With Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Case Report

Headache after subarachnoid hemorrhage and corresponding craniotomy with aneurysm clipping can be severe and difficult to treat. Currently accepted analgesic therapies are often ineffective at treating the pain without incurring unacceptable side effects. We present an innovative approach wherein intravenous lidocaine infusions were used to successfully treat 2 patients with hyperalgesia refractory to traditional analgesic therapies. Opioid consumption fell to zero for both patients during lidocaine infusions without lidocaine toxicity. Moreover, after discontinuation of lidocaine infusions, both patients reported good pain control using only standard oral medications.