RESUMEN
The analgesic effect of 50% nitrous oxide and oxygen on thermal pain sensations was evaluated in a placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover design. In a session immediately before oral surgery, 20 patients used a seven-point verbal scale to rate the intensity of pain sensations evoked by three-second thermal stimuli delivered to 14 sites on the volar forearm at 20-second intervals by a 1-cm-diameter contact thermode. Subjects rated 36 stimuli while breathing room air and then two additional sets of 36 stimuli while inhaling 50% nitrous oxide and oxygen during one set and oxygen placebo during the other. Each of these two stimulus sets was preceded by a two-minute induction of the agent, and the sets were separated by a three-minute washout period. Order of administration was randomized and counterbalanced. Stimulus temperatures were adjusted continuously by an interactive computer program so that response could be maintained at predetermined levels. This method resulted in a continuous measure of analgesia in units of stimulus intensity. Results showed that, in comparison with placebo, nitrous oxide significantly increased the stimulus temperatures (mean = 0.42 degrees C) required to make the same response [F (11,209) = 6.76, p less than 0.0001], indicating analgesia. This increase was one-third to one-half that observed with clinical doses of intravenous fentanyl. Analgesic effects were apparent at three min and wanted 10 min after termination of nitrous-oxide inhalation. These times closely correlated with previous measures of alveolar concentration, further supporting the fast but modest analgesic action of nitrous oxide.
Asunto(s)
Anestesia Dental , Anestesia por Inhalación , Óxido Nitroso/farmacología , Dimensión del Dolor/métodos , Diagnóstico por Computador , Método Doble Ciego , Calor , Humanos , Sensibilidad y EspecificidadRESUMEN
The causes of chest pain in patients found to have angiographically normal coronary arteries during cardiac catheterization remain controversial. Cardiac sensitivity to catheter manipulation, pacing at various stimulus intensities and intracoronary injection of contrast medium was examined in several groups of patients who underwent cardiac catheterization. Right heart (especially right ventricular) catheter manipulation and pacing and intracoronary contrast medium provoked chest pain typical of that previously experienced in 29 (81%) of 36 patients with chest pain and angiographically normal coronary arteries and 15 (46%) of 33 symptomatic patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In contrast, only 2 (6%) of 33 symptomatic patients with coronary artery disease experienced their typical chest pain with these sensitivity tests (p less than 0.001). None of 10 patients with valvular heart disease but without a chest pain syndrome experienced any sensation with these tests. Cutaneous pain threshold testing demonstrated that patients with chest pain and normal coronary arteries had a higher pain threshold to thermal stimulation compared with patients who had coronary artery disease or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. No relation existed between cardiac sensitivity and cutaneous sensitivity testing. Thus, patients who have chest pain despite angiographically normal coronary arteries may have abnormal cardiac sensitivity to a variety of stimuli. This increased sensitivity may be of causal importance to their chest pain syndrome or may contribute to their perception of ischemia-induced pain. The same phenomenon was also commonly seen in symptomatic patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Whether this phenomenon represents abnormal activation of pain receptors within the heart or abnormal processing of visceral afferent neural impulses in the peripheral or central nervous system is unknown.
Asunto(s)
Angina de Pecho/etiología , Angina de Pecho/fisiopatología , Dolor en el Pecho/etiología , Dolor en el Pecho/fisiopatología , Angiografía Coronaria , Umbral Sensorial , Adulto , Angina de Pecho/diagnóstico , Estimulación Cardíaca Artificial , Cardiomiopatía Hipertrófica/fisiopatología , Dolor en el Pecho/diagnóstico , Enfermedad Coronaria/fisiopatología , Diagnóstico Diferencial , Enfermedades del Esófago/complicaciones , Enfermedades del Esófago/diagnóstico , Enfermedades del Esófago/fisiopatología , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Sensación Térmica/fisiologíaRESUMEN
Desipramine has the least anticholinergic and sedative effects of the first generation tricyclic antidepressant agents, but its pain-relieving potential has received little study. Other antidepressant agents--notably amitriptyline--are known to ameliorate postherpetic neuralgia, but those agents are often toxic. In a randomized double-blind crossover design, we gave 26 postherpetic neuralgia patients 6 weeks of treatment with desipramine (mean dose, 167 mg/day) and placebo. Nineteen patients completed both treatments; 12 reported at least moderate relief with desipramine and two reported relief with placebo. Pain relief with desipramine was statistically significant from weeks 3 to 6. Psychiatric interview at entry into the study produced a diagnosis of depression for 4 patients; pain relief was similar in depressed and nondepressed patients and was statistically significant in the nondepressed group alone. We conclude that desipramine administration relieves postherpetic neuralgia and that pain relief is not mediated by mood elevation. Blockade of norepinephrine reuptake, an action shared by desipramine, amitriptyline, and other antidepressant agents that have relieved neuropathic pain, may be involved in relief of postherpetic neuralgia.