Tag: Anesthetic potency

Anesthetic potency varies significantly across different drug classes, such as opioids and inhaled agents. When considering 'What is the most potent anesthetic?', it's crucial to understand how potency is measured for each type of medication.

Based on relative potency values, tetracaine is considered more potent than lidocaine, with ratios cited as 10 for tetracaine versus 4 for lidocaine. The question, 'Is tetracaine stronger than lidocaine?', requires an examination of factors beyond simple potency, including onset time, duration, and specific application methods.

Lidocaine is considered the gold standard of local anesthetics, but several other agents offer greater potency and longer duration of action [1.9.4]. When considering **what is more potent than lidocaine**, options like bupivacaine, ropivacaine, and articaine are frequently discussed for clinical use [1.4.1, 1.3.3].