Effect of Remifentanil on the Recovery Profile After Prolonged Head and Neck Surgery

Opioid tolerance in the perioperative period is inevitable especially with ultra-short acting agents such as remifentanil. Existing evidence had shown that opioid induced hyperalgesia due to neuroplastic changes in the central as well as peripheral nervous system leads to sensitization of pro-nociceptive pathways. However there has been a controversy of occurrence of such tolerance following the use of remifentanil and the quality of recovery as compared to conventional opioids. The investigators evaluated the occurrence of opioid tolerance and other significant adverse effects with remifentanil in subjects undergoing head and neck surgeries. The investigators studied ASA physical status I and II adult subjects undergoing elective head and neck procedures, under general anesthesia with minimum expected duration of 2 hours. The remifentanil infusion was used in one group and intermittent boluses of morphine or fentanyl administered in another group. They were evaluated for immediate post-operative pain by using numerical rating scale (NRS), the opioid consumption, post-operative nausea, vomiting, other significant adverse effects of remifentanil and the time to discharge from PACU.