Fig. 3. Pain ratings on the numeric rating scale (NRS) (  A ) as well as areas of pinprick hyperalgesia (  B ) were significant reduced during remifentanil infusion. Pain ratings were not different in the three groups receiving remifentanil (  A ). Preventive administration of parecoxib (parecoxib prev.) significantly diminished the enlarged hyperalgesic areas after cessation of the remifentanil infusion, while parallel administration of parecoxib (parecoxib para.) did not show any modulatory effects on remifentanil-induced hyperalgesia (  B ). Data are expressed as mean ± SEM (  lower panel ) and as mean area under the curve (AUC) ± SEM of 30-min intervals (  upper panel ) (n = 15). Delta pain and delta hyperalgesia are relative changes in pain ratings and hyperalgesic areas as compared with the baseline measurement before drug administration. *  P < 0.05, planned comparisons corrected with the Bonferroni procedure.