Desipramine enhances opiate postoperative analgesia
- 1 October 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wolters Kluwer Health in Pain
- Vol. 27 (1), 45-49
- https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3959(86)90220-4
Abstract
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study the analgesic efficacy of the combination of a tricyclic antidepressant and morphine was investigated. One of two tricyclic antidepressants (either amitriptyline, a relatively selective serotonin uptake inhibitor or desipramine, a relatively selective noradrenaline uptake inhibitor) or a placebo, was given for 1 week prior to surgery, followed by a single postoperative dose of morphine. Desipramine, but not amitriptyline, both increased and prolonged morphine analgesia. Neither tricyclic antidepressant reduced dental postoperative pain in the absence of morphine. We proposed that desipramine enhances opiate analgesia by enhancing a noradrenergic component that contributes to endogenous opioid-mediated analgesia systems.This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit:
- Influence of the method of drug administration on analgesic responseNature, 1984
- Endogenous Pain Control Systems: Brainstem Spinal Pathways and Endorphin CircuitryAnnual Review of Neuroscience, 1984
- Pain and Analgesia: The Outlook for More Rational TreatmentAnnals of Internal Medicine, 1984
- Pain modulation by 5-hydroxytryptaminergic agents and morphine as measured by three pain testsExperimental Neurology, 1980
- Pain modulation by adrenergic agents and morphine as measured by three pain testsLife Sciences, 1980
- A double-blind controlled study of a serotonin uptake inhibitor (Zimelidine) versus placebo in chronic pain patientsPain, 1979
- The narcotic antagonist naloxone enhances clinical painNature, 1978
- Dextroamphetamine with Morphine for the Treatment of Postoperative PainNew England Journal of Medicine, 1977
- Noradrenaline: Fate and Control of Its BiosynthesisScience, 1971
- Preoperative Emotional States and Adrenal Cortical ActivityA.M.A. Archives of Neurology & Psychiatry, 1957