This Article Abstract Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Heft, M.W. Articles by Dubner, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Heft, M.W. Articles by Dubner, R. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Clinical Science Nitrous Oxide Analgesia: A Psychophysical Evaluation Using Verbal Descriptor Scaling

Neurobiology and Anesthesiology Branch, National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20205

R.H. Gracely

Neurobiology and Anesthesiology Branch, National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20205

R. Dubner

Neurobiology and Anesthesiology Branch, National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20205

The effect of 33% nitrous oxide/67% oxygen was compared with 100% oxygen and air on verbal reports of either sensory intensity or unpleasantness of sensations associated with painful electrical tooth pulp stimulation. Forty-eight subjects used words describing the sensory intensity (i.e., weak, mild, strong) or degree of unpleasantness (i.e., annoying, unpleasant, distressing) to assess the sensations produced by a broad range of tooth pulp stimuli. Within the experimental session, a given subject assessed the painful sensations under all three treatments delivered through a nasal inhaler in a double-blind manner. The incorporation of within-subject placebo (nasal inhaler + air) and active placebo (nasal inhaler + oxygen) controls allowed for rigorous assessment of the components of nitrous oxide analgesia. The results of this study suggest that 33% nitrous oxide analgesia reduces the intensity but not the unpleasantness of painful tooth pulp sensations. Further, 100% oxygen provides no analgesic effect.

REFERENCES

• Chapman, C.R.; Gehrig, J.D.; and Wilson, M.E.: Acupuncture Compared with 33 Per Cent Nitrous Oxide for Dental Analgesia: A Sensory Decision Theory Evaluation, Anesthesiology 42:532-537,1975.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Chapman, C.R.; Murphy, T.M.; and Butler, S.H.: Analgesic Strength of 33 Percent Nitrous Oxide: A Signal Detection Theory Evaluation, Science 179:1246-1248, 1973.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Chapman, W.P.; Arrowood, J.G.; and Beecher, H.K.: The Analgetic Effects of Low Concentrations of Nitrous Oxide Compared in Man with Morphine Sulfate, J Clin Invest 22:871-875, 1943.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Fields, R.W.; Tacke, R.B.; and Savara, B.S.: The Origin of Trigeminal Response Components Elicited by Electrical Stimulation of the Tooth Pulp of the Cat, Arch Oral Biol 20:437-443, 1975.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Fink, B.R.: Diffusion Anoxia, Anesthesiology 16:511-519, 1955. Gescheider, G.A.: Psychophysics: Methods and Theory, Hills-dale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1976, pp. 28-30.
• Gracely, R.H.: Psychophysical Assessment of Human Pain. In: Advances in Pain Research and Therapy, Vol. 3, J.J. Bonica, J.C. Liebeskind, and D. Albe-Fessard, Eds., New York: Raven Press, 1979, pp. 805-824.
• Gracely, R.H.; Dubner, R.; and McGrath, P.A.: Fentanyl Reduces the Intensity of Painful Tooth Pulp Sensations: Controlling for Detection of Active Drugs, Anesth Analg 61: 751-755,1982.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Gracely, R.H.; McGrath, P.; and Dubner, R.: Ratio Scales of Sensory and Affective Verbal Pain Descriptors, Pain 5:5-18, 1978a.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Gracely, R.H.; McGrath, P.; and Dubner, R.: Validity and Sensitivity of Ratio Scales of Sensory and Affective Verbal Pain Descriptors: Manipulation of Affect by Diazepam, Pain 5:19-29, 1978b.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Gracely, R.H.; McGrath, P.; and Dubner, R.: Narcotic Analgesia: Fentanyl Reduces the Intensity but Not the Unpleasantness of Painful Tooth Pulp Sensations, Science 203: 1261-1263, 1979.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Greenwood, F.: HORIUCHI, H.; and MATTHEWS, B.: Electrophysiological Evidence on the Type of Nerve Fibres Excited by Electrical Stimulation of Teeth with a Pulp Tester, Arch Oral Biol 17:701-709, 1972.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Heft, M.W.; Gracely, R.H.; and Dubner, R.: Effects of Intravenous Fentanyl on the Assessment of Chronic MPD Pain, AADR Progr & Abst 59:No. 1000, 1980.
• Heft, M.W.; Gracely, R.H.; Dubner, R.; and McGrath, P.A.: A Validation Model for Verbal Descriptor Scaling of Human Clinical Pain, Pain 9:363-373, 1980b.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Matthews, B. and Searle, B.N.: Electrical Stimulation of Teeth, Pain 2:245-251, 1976.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• McGrath, P.A.; Gracely, R.H.; Dubner, R.; and Heft, M.W.: Non-pain and Pain Sensations Evoked by Tooth Pulp Stimulation, Pain 15:377-388, 1983.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• McGrath, P.A.; Sharav, Y.; Dubner, R.; and Gracely, R.H.: Masseter Inhibitory Periods and Sensations Evoked by Electrical Tooth Pulp Stimulation, Pain 10:1-17, 1981.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Melzack, R. and Casey, K.L.: Sensory, Motivational and Central Control Determinants of Pain. In: The Skin Senses, D.R. Kenshalo, Ed., Springfield, Illinois: C.C. Thomas, 1968, pp. 423-439.
• Thompson, P.L. and Lown, B.: Nitrous Oxide as an Analgesic in Acute Myocardial Infarction, JAMA 235:924-927, 1976.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Tursky, B.: The Development of a Pain Perception Profile: A Psychophysical Approach. In: Pain: New Perspectives in Therapy and Research, M. Weisenberg and B. Tursky, Eds., New York: Plenum Press, 1976, pp. 171-194.
• Wolskee, P.J. and Gracely, R.H.: The Effects of Morphine on Experimental Pain Response in Chronic Pain Patients, Soc Neurosci Abstr 6:246, 1980.

Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 63, No. 2, 129-132 (1984)
DOI: 10.1177/00220345840630020601


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. M. Morello, S. G. Leckband, C. P. Stoner, D. F. Moorhouse, and G. A. Sahagian Randomized Double-blind Study Comparing the Efficacy of Gabapentin With Amitriptyline on Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy Pain Arch Intern Med, September 13, 1999; 159(16): 1931 - 1937. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This Article Abstract Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Heft, M.W. Articles by Dubner, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Heft, M.W. Articles by Dubner, R. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?