A double blind comparison of alfentanil and fentanyl.
Alfentanil and fentanyl were compared as supplements to thiopentone, nitrous oxide, relaxant anaesthesia in a randomised, double blind trial carried out on 55 adult patients undergoing elective surgery. The fentanyl-treated patients resumed spontaneous ventilation more rapidly at the end of anaesthesia (3 minutes) than the alfentanil-treated group (5.1 minutes, p less than 0.02). In other respects the drugs appeared indistinguishable. A computer model is used to explain why, despite the shorter elimination half-life, the alfentanil-treated patients did not awaken more rapidly than those in the fentanyl group.
D000759:Adjuvants, Anesthesia / Q000009:adverse effects; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015760:Alfentanil; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005283:Fentanyl / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000188:drug therapy; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011897:Random Allocation
D000759:Adjuvants, Anesthesia; D015760:Alfentanil; D005283:Fentanyl