Combination therapy with flupirtine and opioid: studies in rat pain models.

Objectives: Flupirtine is an established clinical analgesic for mild to moderate musculoskeletal pain states. It has recently been shown to be a KCNQ2-3 potassium channel opener. These experiments were performed to see if this property could be useful in treating pain states characterized by central sensitization with the drug either given alone or in combination with morphine.

Investigation of the potentiation of the analgesic effects of fentanyl by ketamine in humans: a double-blinded, randomised, placebo controlled, crossover study of experimental pain[ISRCTN83088383].

BACKGROUND: Despite preclinical evidence suggesting a synergistic interaction between ketamine and opioids promoting analgesia, several clinical trials have not identified dosing regimens capable of eliciting a benefit in the co-administration of ketamine with opioids. METHODS: Ten healthy volunteers participated in a double blinded, randomised, placebo controlled, crossover laboratory study in order to determine whether a low dose of ketamine potentiated the antinociceptive effect of fentanyl without causing an increase in sedative effects. A battery of tests was used to assess both nociception and sedation including electrical current, pressure, thermal stimuli, psychometric tests, and both subjective and objective scores of sedation.

Intrathecal midazolam II: combination with intrathecal fentanyl for labor pain.

Unlabelled: Recent investigations have sought to improve intrathecal analgesia by combining opioids with other classes of analgesics. In this study we assessed the ability of intrathecal midazolam to increase the potency and duration of the analgesic effects of intrathecal fentanyl without causing adverse effects. Thirty parturients with cervical dilations 2-6 cm were randomized to receive either intrathecal midazolam 2 mg, fentanyl 10 micro g, or both combined to initiate analgesia.

Intrathecal midazolam I: a cohort study investigating safety.

Unlabelled: Despite conflicting evidence regarding the safety of intrathecal midazolam from animal investigations, its clinical use is increasing. We investigated the potential of intrathecal midazolam to produce symptomatology suggestive of neurological damage. This study compared two cohorts of patients who received intrathecal anesthesia with or without intrathecal midazolam (2 mg).

Real-time pulse oximetry artifact annotation on computerized anaesthetic records.

Objectives: Adoption of computerised anaesthesia record keeping systems has been limited by the concern that they record artifactual data and accurate data indiscriminately. Data resulting from artifacts does not reflect the patient's true condition and presents a problem in later analysis of the record, with associated medico-legal implications. This study developed an algorithm to automatically annotate pulse oximetry artifacts and sought to evaluate the algorithm's accuracy in routine surgical procedures.