Low-dose intravenous lidocaine as treatment for proctalgia fugax.

BACKGROUND Proctalgia fugax is characterized by a sudden internal anal sphincter and anorectic ring attack of pain of a short duration. OBJECTIVE Description of the influence of intravenous lidocaine treatment for proctalgia fugax. CASE REPORT A 28-year-old patient suffering of proctalgia fugax for 8 months. Conventional treatment efforts did not improve his condition. A single dose of an intravenous lidocaine infusion completely stopped his pain attacks. CONCLUSIONS Based on the experience reported in this case and the potential benefit of this treatment for proctalgia fugax, controlled studies comparing intravenous lidocaine with placebo should be conducted to confirm the observation and to provide a more concrete basis for the use of intravenous lidocaine for this indication.