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Lack of effect of ephedrine on opiate analgesia
Newton C Gordon1, Philip H Heller, Jon D Levine
1Departments of Anatomy, Medicine and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and Division of Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CAU.S.A. Department of Emergency Medicine, Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center, Hayward, CAU.S.A.
Abstract:
Opiate-adrenomimetic interaction was investigated by studying the effect of the adrenomimetic agent, ephedrine, on the analgesia produced by intravenous placebo and that produced by the predominantly kappa opiate agonist, pentazocine, in patients with dental postoperative pain. Ephedrine did not significantly affect the analgesia of intravenous placebo or of pentazocine. These results contrast with earlier studies demonstrating enhancement of opiate analgesia by other adrenomimetics. Further clinical studies are needed to delineate the specificity of opiate-adrenomimetic interaction.