Pharmacokinetic profile of epidural meperidine with and without dextran 70

To evaluate the effect of dextran 70 on the kinetics of epidural meperidine, 10 female patients anesthetized with nitrous oxide and halothane were studied. Meperidine, 1 mg· kg−1, was administered epidurally in either 10 ml dextran 70 in saline solution (group I) or 10 ml saline solution (group II, control subjects). Plasma concentration of meperidine was determined for 10 hours after its administration with GC. Meperidine plasma concentration-time curves could be best resolved into three exponential terms with a lag time in both groups of patients. The disposition kinetics were described adequately by a three-compartment model. This study demonstrated that apart from a significantly longer lag time and smaller k10 (apparent first-order rate constant for elimination of meperidine from the central compartment), the addition of dextran did not alter significantly the kinetic parameters of epidural meperidine. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1988) 43, 407–411; doi:10.1038/clpt.1988.51