Low-dose remifentanil to suppress haemodynamic responses to noxious stimuli in cardiac surgery: a dose-finding study

Remifentanil at 0.3 and 0.4 µg kg−1 min−1 in combination with a target-controlled propofol infusion in the pre-bypass period is well tolerated. It appears to mitigate potentially hazardous haemodynamic responses from stressful stimuli equally well as higher doses when compared with data from the literature.