The effect of buprenorphine on the analgesic and respiratory depressant effects of pethidine: a preliminary study.

The effects on respiration and pain perception of giving 0.6 mg buprenorphine alone and of giving the same dose after the administration of pethidine intravenously to achieve a steady-state blood pethidine level (mean blood level 0.29-0.47 microgram/ml) were studied in 3 healthy male volunteers. Depression of ventilation occurred with both pethidine and buprenorphine, and the combination produced greater depression than did either drug alone. Times to onset of, and tolerance to, experimental pain increased with pethidine and buprenorphine, a greater increase occurring when both drugs were combined. There was no evidence that buprenorphine reversed the respiratory depression produced by pethidine, while maintaining analgesia.