Meptazinol is a relatively new opioid analgesic. The currently recommened dose is 200 mg for treatment of moderate, acute and chronic pain. The present study compared the effects of 3 doses of meptazinol, 100 mg, 200 mg, and 400 mg, glafenine 200 mg and a placebo using a standard test of actual driving performance in the real traffic environment. The test consisted of operating an instrumented test-vehicle over a 72 km highway circuit while attempting to maintain a steady course within right lane boundaries and a constant speed. For this, lateral position and speed were continuously recorded and analyzed. Also measured were subjective arousal, subjective driving quality, effort and several possible side-effects. A secondary objective of the study was to compare the driving task performance with performance in a laboratory test. Neither glafenine nor any meptanizol dose impaired the subject's ability to control the lateral position of the test vehicle. The results did show significant dose-related effects of meptazinol on subjective arousal and speed variability. The latter was mainly seen after the 400 mg dose but its magnitude was of doubtful practical relevance. It is concluded that glafenine and meptazinol in doses up to 400 mg do not impair driving performance.
Abstract