Study of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Responses During Cold Pressor Test (CPT) In Healthy Volunteers.

ABSTRACT

Acute pain was induced in 35 healthy volunteer males by cold pressor test (CPT) and pulmonary parameters - respiratory rate (RR), tidal volume (TV), inspiratory and expiratory reserve volume (IRV, ERV), inspiratory capacity (IC), vital capacity (VC), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1, peak expiratory flow rate and forced expiratory flow rate at 75, 50 and 25% of expired FVC (FEFR 75, 50 and 25%) were measured. Acute pain parameters like pain threshold, tolerance and sensitivity were also recorded. Besides these, the cardiovascular parameters - pulse rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, were also measured. Comparisons were made between values recorded before, during and after cold induced pain. There was a significant increase in cardiovascular and pulmonary parameters (RR, TV, IC, IRV, ERV, VC, FVC and FVC1) during the acute pain induced by CPT, reflecting an acute state of responses secondary to sympathetic challenge. The study indicates that alterations in pulmonary and cardiovascular profile form an integral part of multidimensional responses observed during cold induced acute pain.