Fentanyl Does Not Increase Brain Injury After Focal Cerebral Ischemia in Rats

Abstract

Fentanyl is commonly used in surgical procedures in which there is a substantial risk of focal cerebral ischemia. Fentanyl did not affect cerebral injury produced by focal ischemia in the rat. The data suggest that, in doses that produce respiratory depression and muscle rigidity, fentanyl does not reduce the tolerance of the brain to a focal ischemic insult.