Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0344307 (analgesia)
 28,200 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The steroid anaesthetic Althesin (Glaxo), which is a mixture of two C21 steroids, alphaxalone (3 alpha-hydroxy-5 alpha-pregnane-11, 20-dione--the active compound) and alphadolone acetate (21-acetoxy-3 alpha-hydroxy-5 alpha-pregnane-11, 20-dione), has been especially useful for the study of forebrain-autonomic and neuroendocrine functions. As determined by the loss of the righting reflex, Child et al. found no sex difference in the anaesthetic dose of Althesin administered intravenously (i.v.). However, in our neuroendocrine studies in which the anaesthetic was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) and at dosage sufficient to produce surgical anaesthesia and analgesia, we observed a sex difference in the efficacy of Althesin. This may explain the difficulties that have been encountered in obtaining adequate anaesthesia (blockade of the somatomotor response to pain) with Althesin. Here we report, using cortical electroencephalography, that Althesin is a more potent anaesthetic than either sodium pentobarbitone or urethane, and that anaesthesia in the male rat requires about four times more Althesin (administered i.p.) than in the female. This sex difference is age dependent, can be abolished by administering oestrogen to the male, does not depend on sexual differentiation of the brain, and cannot be attributed to a sex difference in the metabolic clearance rate of alphaxolone. These results, taken together with those of Richards and Hesketh, suggest that the effect of alphaxalone may be mediated by interactions with synaptic membranes that are more specific than simply a generalized change in membrane structure, and that these interactions are affected by sex steroids.
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PMID:Sex difference in response to alphaxalone anaesthesia may be oestrogen dependent. 720 Oct 79

The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs inhibit prostaglandin synthesis and hence have an analgesic action. Following topical administration, the drug is concentrated in the tissues and so can have a local analgesic effect. This study investigated the effect of the preoperative application of topical piroxicam on postoperative analgesic requirement compared to a placebo group and a conventional local anaesthetic field block. Forty-two patients presenting for in-patient inguinal hernia repair were randomly allocated on a double-blind basis to have either piroxicam gel 15gm applied preoperatively, or an inguinal field block with 20 ml of 0.375% bupivacaine following induction of anaesthesia, or no treatment. Postoperative Visual Analogue Scores for pain on moving in group P, I or C on admission at 1h, 2h, and 4 h following surgery were: 2 vs 1 vs 6.5; 3 vs 3 vs 5; 3 v 2 vs 4.5; 3 vs 2 vs 5.0, respectively (P < 0.005). Median(range) time to first analgesia was 25.4(15-70) min in group I, 30.3(10-49) min in group P; this was not significantly different from group C21.5(7-70) min. Over the first 24 hours the postoperative morphine requirement was significantly less in the two treatment groups 30(20)mg in group I and 34(17) mg in group P and 71(15) in group C, P < 0.0001. There were no apparent NSAID-induced side-effects, or effects on wound healing. The preoperative administration of piroxicam (15gm) topically compared favourably with a preoperative local anaesthetic field block with respect to VAS scores, time to first analgesia and total morphine consumption. And both treatment groups provided significantly superior analgesia than the control group.
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PMID:Preoperative application of piroxicam gel compared to a local anaesthetic field block for postoperative analgesia. 883 67