The influence of tilidine and prazepam on withdrawal reflex, skin resistance reaction and pain rating in man.

Pain rating, withdrawal reflex and skin resistance reaction upon electrical skin stimuli were studied on 15 male volunteers under placebo, tilidine and prazepam. Tilidine (Valoron) is an orally applicable narcotic analgesic, with a mode of pain relief presumably similar to morphine; the tranquilizer prazepam (Demetrin) belongs to the benzodiazepine group. Significant reduction in all measured reaction amplitudes was found under tilidine, whereas prazepam reduced significantly only the skin resistance reaction. The relative drug-induced changes in reaction amplitudes, related to the corresponding placebo value, were independent of stimulus intensity for all investigated reactions. Therefore, fitted power functions re = a . Sn between reaction amplitudes re and stimulus intensity S showed a decrease in parameter a under the investigated drugs, whereas the exponent n remained constant. High correlations between parameters a and corresponding reciprocal threshold currents could be shown for all reactions measured. Furthermore the drug-induced changes of withdrawal reflex amplitude and of subjective estimation were found to be correlated over subjects. In contrast, no correlations were found between variations in skin resistance reaction and magnitude estimation due to the selected drugs, i.e., the influence of the drugs on the sensory component of pain sensation and on the skin resistance reaction were independent effects.