A local anesthetic drug related to procaine, used in medical procedures to numb tissue by blocking nerve signals.
From di- (two) + butyl + caine (suffix for anesthetic drugs). Developed as a synthetic anesthetic in the early 20th century, it represents improvements on earlier anesthetics like cocaine and procaine.
Dibucaine is famous in medical history because it revealed something hidden—certain people metabolize it slowly, leading to the discovery of genetic variation in enzyme production, changing how doctors prescribe drugs.
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