Introduced in 1905 under the trade name Novocaine, it became the first and best-known substitute for cocaine in local anesthesia. Generally used in a 1 to 10 percent saline solution, procaine hydrochloride is administered by injection for infiltration (area flooding as in dental anesthesia), nerve-block, spinal, and caudal anesthesia.
Unlike cocaine, procaine 【59-46-1】 is not toxic, addicting, or irritating. It has been displaced somewhat by the chemically related drugs lidocaine【CAS 137-58-6】and mepivacaine, which produce prompter, more intense anesthesia.