Table 1: Chemical and physical properties of the three considered long-acting local anesthetics.

 

Bupivacaine

Ropivacaine

Levobupivacaine

Molecular weight

288

274

288

pKa

8.1

8.1

8.1

Liposolubility

30

2.8

30

Partition coefficient

28

9

28

Protein binding (%)

95

94

95