Dyspnea
Conditions
Keywords
Fentanyl Citrate, Opioids, Exercise
Brief summary
Dyspnea refers to the awareness of breathing discomfort that is typically experienced during exercise in health and disease. In various participant populations, dyspnea is a predictor of disability and death; and contributes to exercise intolerance and an adverse health-related quality-of-life. It follows that alleviating dyspnea and improving exercise tolerance are among the principal goals of disease management. Nevertheless, the effective management of dyspnea and activity-limitation remains an elusive goal for many healthcare providers and current strategies aimed at reversing the underlying chronic disease are only partially successful in this regard. Thus, research aimed at identifying dyspnea-specific medications to complement existing therapies for the management of exertional symptoms is timely and clinically relevant. The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that single-dose inhalation of fentanyl citrate (a mu-opioid receptor antagonist) will improve the perception of dyspnea during strenuous exercise in healthy, young men in the presence of an external thoracic restriction. To this end, the investigators plan compare the effects of inhaled 0.9% saline placebo and inhaled fentanyl citrate (250 mcg) on detailed assessments of neural respiratory drive (diaphragm EMG), ventilation, breathing pattern, dynamic operating lung volumes, contractile respiratory muscle function, cardio-metabolic function and dyspnea (sensory intensity and affective responses) during symptom-limited, high-intensity, constant-work-rate cycle exercise testing with and without external thoracic restriction in healthy, men aged 20-40 years.
Interventions
DRUGFentanyl Citrate
OTHERCWS
Chest wall strapping to reduce vital capacity by 20% of its baseline value
DRUGPlacebo
0.9% saline
Sponsors
McGill University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
MALE
Age
20 Years to 40 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Male * Aged 20-40 years * FEV1 ≥80% predicted * FEV1/FVC \>70%
Exclusion criteria
* Current or ex-smoker * Body Mass Index \<18.5 or \>30 kg/m2 * History of cardiovascular, vascular, respiratory, renal, liver, musculoskeletal, endocrine, neuromuscular and/or metabolic disease/dysfunction * Taking doctor prescribed medications * History of using pain-relieving (opioid) and/or anti-depressant medications in the previous 6 weeks * Allergy to latex * Allergy to lidocaine or its caine derivatives
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Sensory intensity (Borg 0-10 scale) ratings of dyspnea at isotime | Participants will be followed until all study visits are completed, an expected average of 3 weeks |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed