A 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose MicroPET Imaging Study to Assess Changes in Brain Glucose Metabolism in a Rat Model of Surgery-induced Latent Pain Sensitization

Abstract

Surgery, remifentanil, and their combination induced long-lasting and significant metabolic changes in the pain brain matrix, with a positive correlation with hypersensitivity after naloxone. Changes in brain F-FDG precipitated by naloxone suggest that surgery under remifentanil anesthetic induces the greatest neuroplastic brain adaptations in opioid-related pathways involved in nociceptive processing and long-lasting pain sensitization.