BACKGROUND: Opioid induced bowel dysfunction is the most common side effect of preoperatively administrated morphine, fentanyl and its derivative. However, the influence of dezocine on intestinal mobility is rarely reported. This study was designed to investigate the effects of dezocine, morphine and sufentanil on both intestinal smooth muscle contraction and propulsion in rats. METHODS: Contractile tension and frequency of isolated rat small intestine smooth muscle were measured using tension transducer after incubation with different concentrations of dezocine, morphine and sufentanil. The propulsive rate of methylene blue in rat intestinal tract was measured 30 minutes after intraperitoneal injection of morphine, sufentanil and dezocine. Percent of change in contractile tension and contraction frequency compared to baseline level were calculated to evaluate muscle contraction. Propulsive rate of methylene blue was calculated as the percentage of methylene blue moving distance in intestinal tract compared to the length of the small intestine. RESULTS: Morphine and sufentanil significantly increased the contractile tension of isolated small intestine smooth muscle at high doses. The contraction frequency did not change significantly among the 3 tested doses. Increasing the dose of dezocine from 1.7 mg.L(-1) to 10.2 mg.L(-1) did not change either the contractile tension or the contraction frequency. The propulsive rate of methylene blue in intestinal tract was significantly decreased after the treatment with morphine, sufentanil and dezocine (45.6%, 43.7%, and 42.1% respectively) compared to control group(57.1%), while the difference among the 3 drug groups were not significant. CONCLUSION: Morphine and sufentanil may dose dependently increase the contractile tension and contraction ability of isolated rat small intestine smooth muscle, while dezocine has no significant effect on intestine smooth muscle contraction. However, all these opioids might impair small intestinal propulsion.