Do individuals with red hair need more anaesthetic than those with dark hair?

Completed

Conditions: Anaesthesia requirement
Surgery

Registration Number: ISRCTN73378715

Lead Sponsor: niversity Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UK)

Brief Summary: Not available

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Completed

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 14

Inclusion Criteria

1. Males or females
2. Aged between 30 and 50 years of age
3. Are presenting for elective surgery
4. Able to give informed consent
5. Subjects will be American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status grade I or II (healthy or with minor / controlled systemic disease)
6. To avoid bias from background population genetics, all subjects will be Caucasian, and of Northern European dissent by self-identification
7. Potential participants should have naturally red scalp hair, and ?pale? or ?fair? skin which tans poorly in response to ultraviolet radiation (UVR).
8. The control group is of individuals with brown or black scalp hair who tan easily in response to UVR (e.g. after frequent sunbathing during an entire summer)

Exclusion Criteria

1. Patients who are taking any of the following as these drugs may modify the response to anaesthesia and the pain reflex:
1.1. Sedatives
1.2. Strong opioid pre-medication
1.3. Regular opioid analgesics
1.4. Psychotropics
1.5. Anti-convulsants
1.6. Recreational drugs of abuse (amphetamines, cocaine, benzodiazepines, opioids, or alcohol excess)
2. If a general anaesthetic has been administered within the last 6 weeks
3. If the patient has possibly built up tolerance to the anaesthetic
4. Subjects who are pregnant
5. Subjects with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 35 kg/m2
6. Subjects with a known allergy or reaction to anaesthetics
7. Subjects with uncontrolled systemic disease (including chronic pain syndrome and heart burn)
8. Recent involvement in other research unless it can be demonstrated that there will be no possible effect or interaction resulting from the existing trial interventions, and permission can be obtained from the sponsor