Recent studies in vivo have shown that oral administration of Gingko biloba standardised extract (EGb-761) blocked thermal hyperalgesia in rat models of carrageenan induced inflammatory pain and paw incisional pain (Biddlestone and Dolan, 2007; Br J Pharmacol., in press). The aim of this study was to examine the effects of local administration of EGb-761 on carrageenan induced hypersensitivity and inflammation. Carrageenan (3%; 50 μl) was injected intradermally into the left hindpaw of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 6/group; 250-300 g) followed by intraplantar injection of EGb-761 (100 or 300 μg) or drug-vehicle in 50 μl into the ipsilateral hindpaw 3 h post-carrageenan. Mechanical response threshold (in grams) and thermal response latency (in sec) to hindpaw stimulation and paw oedema (cm3) were measured before and 2, 4, 6 and 24 h post-carrageenan. The maximum effect (Emax) was calculated as the maximum change in threshold after carrageenan injection from baseline responses. Data (mean +/- SEM) were analysed using one-way ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey’s test. Carrageenan induced a significant reduction in mechanical and thermal response threshold, and paw oedema in the ipsilateral paw. Maximum hypersensitivity and paw oedema were observed 6 h post-carrageenan. Intraplantar injection of 100 and 300 μg EGb-761 had no effect on carrageenan-induced mechanical hypersensitivity but blocked thermal hypersensitivity at 6 h (Emax: 7.7 +/- 4.4% and 14.9 +/- 3.8%, respectively vs. 50.4 +/- 4.3% in vehicle treated group; p < 0.001). Intraplantar injection of 300 μg EGb-761 significantly reduced paw oedema at 6 h (p < 0.05). These results demonstrate that local injection of EGb-761 is effective in inhibiting carrageenan-induced inflammation and thermal hypersensitivity, indicating that the observed analgesia induced by EGb-761 may be peripherally-mediated.