Nefopam, a non-opioid analgesic, does not alleviate experimental work/effort dyspnoea in healthy humans: A randomised controlled trial

摘要

Background: Dyspnoea is a distressing and debilitating symptom with a major impact on quality of life. Alleviation of dyspnoea therefore constitutes a major clinkal challenge. When causative physiological disorders cannot be corrected ("persistent dyspnoea"), nonspecific treatment must be considered. Morphine alleviates dyspnoea but has numerous side-effects including ventilatory depression, which justifies looking for alternatives. Certain forms of dyspnoea involve C-fibres, and can be attenuated by C fibres blockade. We hypothesised that nefopam, a non-sedative benzoxazocine analgesic known to block the transient receptor potential vanilloid subtype 1 abundantly present on C-fibres, would attenuate dyspnoea.