Methods for the assessment of opioid-induced hyperalgesia in the perioperative period

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Opioid-induced hyperalgesia is a topic not yet fully understood in terms of mechanisms, diagnosis, prevention and treatment. Thus, it seems of great importance to evaluate this phenomenon that negatively affects the treatment of pain. The purpose of this study was to describe what tools to use to evaluate periopera-tive hyperalgesia. CONTENTS: Several methods have been suggested to evaluate opioid-induced hyperalgesia, such as measure of pain intensity, opioid consumption, and evaluation of secondary hyperalgesia with algometer and Von Frey monofilaments. The measurement of some substances, such as cytokines, glutamate, and dynorphin has also been used. CONCLUSION: There are several ways to evaluate opioid-induced hiperalgesia, easily reproducible tests should be chosen and which have also been described in previous studies. RESUMO JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: A hiperalgesia induzida pelo opioide é um tema ainda não totalmente esclarecido do ponto de vista dos mecanismos, do diagnóstico, da prevenção e do trata-mento. Assim, parece de grande importância a avaliação desse fenômeno que afeta de maneira negativa o tratamento da dor. O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever quais instrumentos utilizar para avaliar a hiperalgesia perioperatória.