how do opioids treat dyspnea?

-dyspnea- due to acute LEFT VENTRICULAR failure and pulmonary edema. IV morphine may produce dramatic improvement, increased venous capacity may be involved. CONTRAINDICATED in PE due to respiratory disease!!

Jennings AL, Davies AN, Higgins JPT, Gibbs JSR, Broadley KE. A systematic review of the use of opioids in the management of dyspnoea. Thorax. Nov 2002;57(11):939–944

It is attached, read up on it.

Hello there,

How about this?

I understand this to be that with dyspnea of you have some sort of noxious stimuli that is triggering respiratory centers to compensate. Such that you could have high levels of CO2, anemia, fluid congestion, metabolic acidosis, or have increased oxygen demands due to an infection / unknown cause.

Opiods will inhibit the intracellular pathway that causes a cascade of closing voltage gated calcium channels, stimulation of potassium efflux, and reduction of cAMP production.

You'll now require a much larger noxious stimuli to produce the dyspnea. It goes to serve that you should find the underlying cause and use critical thinking to determine if other interventions are needed. Or perhaps Opioids are the only intervention required - its advised to start with low doses and use as tolerated it could result in fatal respiratory depression (know where that Narcan is).

It helps with the post-op pain and allows them to breathe…don't give too much or else it will have the reverse effect

Hope this helps... even though someone already posted it ....