• B Gustorff, K H Hoerauf, P Lierz, and H G Kress.
• Department of Anaesthesia and General Intensive Care Medicine (B), University of Vienna, Währinger-Gürtel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. burkhard.gustorff@univie.ac.at
• Br J Anaesth. 2003 Aug 1; 91 (2): 203-8.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to compare thermal and current sensory testing stimuli with respect to opioid responsiveness.MethodsEighteen healthy volunteers were randomized in a placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover study to receive an infusion of remifentanil 0.08 micro g kg(-1) min(-1) or saline for 40 min. Test procedures included determination of pain perception thresholds (PPT) and pain tolerance thresholds (PTT) to heat, cold, and current at 5, 250 and 2000 Hz, at baseline and at the end of the infusion.ResultsBoth current at 5 Hz (PPT 3.69 (SD 2.48) mA vs 2.01 (1.52) mA; PTT 6.42 (2.79) mA vs 3.63 (2.31) mA; P<0.001) and 250 Hz (PPT 4.31 (2.42) mA vs 2.89 (1.57) mA; PTT 7.08 (2.68) mA vs 4.81 (2.42) mA; P<0.001) and heat (PPT 47.4 (2.7) degrees C vs 45.2 (3) degrees C; PTT 51.1 (1.8) degrees C vs 49.7 (1.8) degrees C; P<0.05) detected a significant analgesic effect of remifentanil compared with placebo. No analgesic effect was shown on cold or current at 2000 Hz. The magnitude of responsiveness of current stimuli at 5 Hz and 250 Hz was superior to heat stimuli.ConclusionBoth current (5 and 250 Hz) and heat sensory testing detected a significant analgesic effect of a remifentanil infusion compared with saline. There was more response to current testing.

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