Objective  To investigate the effect of lidocaine on perioperative function of autonomic nervous system and recovery in patients undergoing gynecological surgery.

  Methods  A total of 70 patients undergoing laparoscopic gynecological surgery under general anesthesia were randomly divided into lidocaine group (group L) and control group(group C). Group L received intravenous injection of 1.5 mg/kg lidocaine before operation and maintained at 1.5 mg/(kg·h) during operation, while group C received the same amount of normal saline. Electrocardiogram was monitored before operation, 1 day and 2 days after operation to analyze heart rate variability (HRV), including the normalized unit of low-frequency band power (LFnu), the normalized unit of high-frequency band power (HFnu), the log-transformed measure of total-frequency band power (LogTP), the ratio of low to high frequency band powers (LF/HF), the standard deviation of the inter-beat-interval of normal sinus beats (SDNN) and the root mean square of successive difference of successive intervals (RMSSD). Pain score was assessed, and plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) were determined and the quality of recovery-40 questionnaire (QoR-40) was used to evaluate the quality of recovery.

  Results  Compared with group C, LogTP, HFnu, SDNN, and RMSSD were higher, LFnu and LF/HF were lower, and pain scores were lower in the group L on the first postoperative day (P < 0.05). The levels of plasma IL-6 on the second postoperative day in the group L were significantly lower, and QoR-40 scores were higher than those of the C group (P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  Lidocaine can stabilize the balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves after laparoscopic surgery, which is beneficial to postoperative recovery of patients.