Endotracheal Extubation

To the Editor: It is well known that intravenous lidocaine can suppress coughing due to tracheal intubation. 1 But the statement in the Videos in Clinical Medicine review by Ortega et al. (Jan. 16 issue) 2 that local anesthetic agents in general can be used to treat coughing may lead to the false assumption that this is correct for all local anesthetic agents. The intravenous administration of local anesthetic agents other than lidocaine to prevent coughing may lead to life-threatening central nervous system and cardiac toxicity and should be definitely avoided. 3 Figure 1 of the Videos in Clinical Medicine review showed an . . .