Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effect of sympathetic nerve block on acute inflammatory pain and hyperalgesia.
Sympathetic nerve blocks relieve pain in certain chronic pain states, but the role of the sympathetic pathways in acute pain is unclear. Thus the authors wanted to determine whether a sympathetic block could reduce acute pain and hyperalgesia after a heat injury in healthy volunteers. ⋯ Sympathetic nerve block did not change acute inflammatory pain or hyperalgesia after a heat injury in human skin.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Esmolol reduces anesthetic requirement for skin incision during propofol/nitrous oxide/morphine anesthesia.
Although beta blockers have been used primarily to decrease unwanted perioperative hemodynamic responses, the sedative properties of these compounds might decrease anesthetic requirements. This study was designed to determine whether esmolol, a short-acting beta 1-receptor antagonist, could reduce the propofol concentration required to prevent movement at skin incision. ⋯ Esmolol significantly decreased the anesthetic requirement for skin incision. The components and mechanism of this interaction remain unclear. A simple pharmacokinetic interaction between esmolol and propofol does not explain the Cp50 reduction. These results demonstrate an anesthetic-sparing effect of a beta-adrenergic antagonist in humans under clinically relevant conditions.