Comparative Analgesic and Mental Effects of Increasing Plasma Concentrations of Dexmedetomidine and Alfentanil in Humans

Abstract

This study documents that systemic dexmedetomidine lacks analgesic efficacy for heat and electrical pain at doses causing mild to severe sedation. These results provide further evidence suggesting that systemic administration of dexmedetomidine lacks broad analgesic activity in models of acute pain at doses not rendering humans unconscious.