Few problems have been so elusive of solution by otologists as that of the relief or cure of tinnitus aurium. In some cases this problem has been of such magnitude as to undermine the morale of the physician as well as that of the patient. It has been felt justifiable in some instances even to sacrifice hearing by destruction of the labyrinth by surgical or other equally radical measures.
Bárány1 discovered during the course of some intranasal surgical procedures that the injection of a solution of procaine hydrochloride into the inferior turbinate occasionally stopped tinnitus in some patients for a variable length of time. In an article published just prior to his death he suggested that this and other local anesthetic agents given by this route or, preferably, intravenously might be of some value in alleviating this condition.
This paper records experiments with three different local anesthetic agents to work