Remifentanil and Hyperalgesia: Gradual Withdrawal Versus Immediate Discontinuation
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2017-08-30
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Modern anesthesia has made a lot of progress, however, postoperative pain remains one of the
major problems associated with patient discomfort, prolonged hospital stay and increased
health care costs.
Remifentanil is an ultra-short-acting phenylpiperidine opioid analgesic with high lipid
solubility and a rapid onset of effect.
Recently, opioid use has also been associated with postoperative opioid-induced hyperalgesia
or acute opioid tolerance. An immediate discontinuation of remifentanil has been associated
to increased postoperative pain levels.
We would like to investigate whether a gradual post-operative withdrawal of remifentanil is
indeed associated with less immediate pain compared to after an abrupt withdrawal in surgical
patients undergoing minor surgery.