Korean J Anesthesiol.  2014 Jan;66(1):44-51. 10.4097/kjae.2014.66.1.44.

Interaction between postoperative shivering and hyperalgesia caused by high-dose remifentanil

• Song YK
• Lee C
• Seo DH
• Park SN
• Moon SY
• Park CH

• KMID: 2237243
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2014.66.1.44

Abstract

BACKGROUND
High-dose remifentanil-based anesthesia is associated with opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH) and postanesthetic shivering (PAS). These effects can be prevented by N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists. This study aimed to investigate correlations between OIH and PAS caused by high-dose remifentanil and the effects of low-dose ketamine on OIH and PAS.
METHODS
Seventy-five patients scheduled for single-port laparoscopic gynecologic surgery were randomly allocated into three groups, each of which received intraoperative remifentanil: group L at 0.1 microg/kg/min; group H at 0.3 microg/kg/min; and group HK at 0.3 microg/kg/min plus 0.25 mg/kg ketamine just before incision, followed by a continuous infusion of 5 microg/kg/min ketamine until skin closure.
RESULTS
PAS, postoperative tactile pain threshold, and the extent of hyperalgesia in group H were significantly different (P < 0.05) than in the other two groups. PAS was significantly correlated with OIH, including mechanically evoked pain such as postoperative tactile pain threshold (r = -0.529, P = 0.01) (r = -0.458, P = 0.021) and the extent of hyperalgesia (r = 0.537, P = 0.002) (r = 0.384, P = 0.031), respectively, in group H and group HK. Notably, both groups were treated with high-dose remifentanil. Tympanic membrane temperature, time to first postoperative analgesic requirement, postoperative pain scores, analgesic consumption, and cumulative patient-controlled analgesia volume containing morphine were comparable in all three groups.
CONCLUSIONS
OIH, including the enhanced perception of pain, and PAS were both associated with high-dose remifentanil, were significantly correlated and were attenuated by a low dose of ketamine. This suggests that a common mechanism in part mediated through activation of the central glutamatergic system (e.g., NMDA receptors), underlies the two effects caused by high doses of remifentanil.

Keyword

Ketamine; Opioid-induced hyperalgesia; Postanesthetic shivering; Remifentanil

MeSH Terms

Analgesia, Patient-Controlled
Anesthesia
Female
Gynecologic Surgical Procedures
Humans
Hyperalgesia*
Ketamine
Morphine
N-Methylaspartate
Pain Threshold
Pain, Postoperative
Shivering*
Skin
Tympanic Membrane
Ketamine
Morphine
N-Methylaspartate