Abstract

Procaine hydrochloride (introduced as novocain), the successor to cocaine, has long enjoyed a vogue as a local anesthetic, and its value is well recognized. Recently its therapeutic value has been realized and many articles have appeared, especially in the foreign literature, attesting its efficiency and emphasizing its clinical potentialities. Our principal interest is in its therapeutic application, especially with regard to traumatic and orthopedic conditions, but after somewhat sketchily reviewing the literature we feel that it might be worth while to call attention to its application in other branches of medicine and surgery. Procaine hydrochloride is the hydrochloride of paraaminobenzoyl-diethylaminoethanol. The dosage is from one to three times that of cocaine, and its anesthetic and irritant actions are perhaps slightly less. The drug on direct application acts by paralyzing the sensory nerve fibrils without preceding stimulation, but in higher concentrations it will paralyze all other nerve fibers and indeed all