Ropivacaine is a local anaesthetic drug belonging to the amino amide group. Ropivacaine is indicated for local anaesthesia including infiltration, nerve block, epidural and intrathecal anaesthesia in adults and children over 12 years. It is also sometimes used for infiltration anaesthesia for surgical pain in children. Ropivacaine is often coadministered with fentanyl for epidural analgesia, for example in pregnant women during labour. Ropivacaine is contraindicated for intravenous regional anaesthesia (IVRA). However, new data suggested both ropivacaine and levobupivacaine can be used, because they have less cardiovascular and central nervous system toxicity than racemic bupivacaine. As for bupivacaine, Celepid, a commonly available intravenous lipid emulsion, can be effective in treating severe cardiotoxicity secondary to local anaesthetic overdose in animal experiments and in humans in a process called lipid rescue.
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