Which term is a local anesthetic?

Which term is a local anesthetic?

• A. Caine
• B. Mycin
• C. Ide
• D. Zide

Answer: (A)

Endings in drug names often hint at the class. Local anesthetics typically end with -caine, a naming cue that signals their ability to block voltage-gated sodium channels and stop nerve impulses. This suffix appears in familiar agents like lidocaine, procaine, tetracaine, and benzocaine, making -caine the marker for a local anesthetic. The other endings point to different drug categories—for example, -mycin is common for antibiotics—so they don’t indicate local anesthetics.

Endings in drug names often hint at the class. Local anesthetics typically end with -caine, a naming cue that signals their ability to block voltage-gated sodium channels and stop nerve impulses. This suffix appears in familiar agents like lidocaine, procaine, tetracaine, and benzocaine, making -caine the marker for a local anesthetic. The other endings point to different drug categories—for example, -mycin is common for antibiotics—so they don’t indicate local anesthetics.