The minimum effective doses of pethidine and doxapram in the treatment of post‐anaesthetic shivering

This study was designed to find the minimum effective doses of doxapram and pethidine to stop post‐anaesthetic shivering. Two hundred and twenty healthy patients who shivered following routine surgery were allocated randomly to receive one of 10 doses of doxapram (0.18, 0.23, 0.29, 0.35, 0.41, 0.47, 0.7, 0.93, 1.17 and 1.4 mg.kg−1), one of five doses of pethidine (0.12, 0.18, 0.23, 0.29 and 0.35 mg.kg−1) or saline. Probit analysis demonstrated that the number of patients who stopped shivering with doxapram was independent of the amount of drug given in this dose range. The lowest dose of doxapram (0.18 mg.kg−1) was significantly more effective than placebo (p