Bronchial mucus transport velocity in patients receiving anaesthesia with propofol and morphine or propofol and remifentanil.

In vitro morphine does not reduce cilia beat frequency, a key factor determining bronchial mucus transport velocity. There are no reports about the effect of remifentanil on bronchial mucus transport. We compared the bronchial mucus transport velocity in patients having total intravenous anaesthesia with either propofol and morphine, or propofol and remifentanil. Twenty patients scheduled for elective surgery were randomly allocated to the two groups. Fifteen minutes after insertion of the laryngeal mask airway, bronchial mucus transport velocity was assessed by fibreoptic observation of the movement of methylene blue dye applied to the right main bronchus. Compared with morphine, bronchial mucus transport velocity was significantly reduced in patients receiving remifentanil (morphine mean (SD) 9.2 (5.8) vs remifentanil 4.2 (3.0) mm.min(-1), p = 0.028). Anaesthesia with remifentanil may lead to significantly impaired bronchociliary clearance in comparison to morphine. This could have clinical implications, in particular in patients at risk.