Ventilatory and mental effects of alfentanil and fentanyl.
Forty healthy, young volunteers received intravenously, in a double-blind and random fashion, 7.5 or 15 micrograms/kg of alfentanil, 1.5 or 3 micrograms/kg of fentanyl, or saline. The ventilatory response to CO2 was measured before and at 4, 20, 30, 50, 80, and 120 min post-treatment. Mental and psychomotor functions were measured before and at 10, 40, 100, 130, and 180 min post-treatment. Low and high-dose fentanyl caused significant respiratory depression up to 30 and 80 min post-treatment, respectively, while there was no depression with low-dose alfentanil and only at 4 min with high-dose alfentanil. The fentanyl to alfentanil potency ratio for respiratory depression was 13:1. High-dose fentanyl caused more intense and prolonged mental effects than other treatments. Neither drug affected learning or recall, although high-dose fentanyl impaired motor activity. Nausea and vomiting rates were similar between high-dose alfentanil and low-dose fentanyl.
D000328:Adult; D015760:Alfentanil; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000633:toxicity*; D003864:Depression, Chemical; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005283:Fentanyl / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000187:drug effects*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D009325:Nausea / Q000139:chemically induced; D011897:Random Allocation; D012119:Respiration / Q000187:drug effects*; D013997:Time Factors; D014839:Vomiting / Q000139:chemically induced
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D015760:Alfentanil; D005283:Fentanyl