PNAS: Effects of fentanyl on the brain

key takeaway

• Electroencephalogram (EEG) tests showed fentanyl's effects on the brain and showed that the drug stops breathing before people experience other noticeable changes and lose consciousness

  
  

• Fentanyl produces a specific EEG signature that allows clinicians to monitor its effects, allowing for safer and more personalized dosing during and after surgery

  
  

Fentanyl is used to aid sedation and relieve severe pain during and after surgery, but it is also one of the deadliest drugs in the opioid epidemic

In the present study, electroencephalography (EEG) was performed on 25 patients undergoing surgery under general anesthesia for more than 2 hours

"We found that fentanyl produces a specific EEG signature distinct from other narcotic drugs, which could enable monitoring of its effects, leading to safer, more precise and personalized opioid management," senior author Patrick said Dr.

EEG tests conducted by Bodden and his colleagues also showed that fentanyl began to impair breathing about 4 minutes before the change in vigilance, and that the concentration of fentanyl in the drug was 1,700 times lower than that of the drug that caused sedation

These findings clearly demonstrate that no amount of fentanyl is safe outside the clinical setting of a trained expert