Figure 1. After a single intravenous lidocaine infusion to complete allodynia suppression or a maximum of 30 mg/kg over approximately 60 min on day 0, neuropathic rats were followed for 3 weeks (N = 6) and simultaneously compared with rats that received saline infusions of equivalent volume using the same paradigm (N = 5). Blinded assessment revealed a highly significant difference between groups, with sustained allodynia suppression in the lidocaine-treated rats, and an absence of spontaneous neuropathy resolution in the saline controls (P = 0.0002, repeated measures analysis of variance). X-axis, day relative to lidocaine infusion; y-axis, paw withdrawal thresholds expressed as percent of maximum possible effect plus/minus SE.