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British Journal of Anaesthesia, 1994, Vol. 73, No. 4 517-521
© 1994 The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia

research-article

Comparison of clonidine with fentanyl on phrenic nerve activity and their interaction in anaesthetized rabbits

M. G. KNOWLES, MB, CHB, MRCP (UK), FRCA, C. WANG, MB, M. K. CHAKRABARTI, BSC, MPHIL, MBE and J. G. WHITWAM, MB, CHB, PHD, FRCP FRCA

Department of Anaesthesia, Hammersmith Hospital, Royal Postgraduate Medical School Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN
Present address: Department of Anaesthesia, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TH

Correspondence to C. W.

We have compared the effects of clonidine and fentanyl on phrenic nerve activity in anaesthetized rabbits during artificial ventilation. Both drugs caused dose-dependent inhibition of phrenic nerve activity and complete abolition in all experiments. The calculated ED50 values were 3.7µg kg–1 for clonidine and 3.9µg kg–1 for fentanyl. Pretreatment with clonidine 1 µg kg–1i.v. depressed phrenic nerve activity to 81.8% of control values. This effect was additive with subsequent doses of fentanyl which was confirmed with an ED50, isobologram. We conclude that clonidine has the potential for deleterious respiratory effects at doses similar to those of fentanyl, but the interaction between the two drugs is additive and hence differs from their known synergistic antinociceptive interaction.


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