These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Epidural morphine: a clinical double-blind study of dosage.
    Author: Lanz E, Kehrberger E, Theiss D.
    Journal: Anesth Analg; 1985 Aug; 64(8):786-91. PubMed ID: 4014743.
    Abstract:
    The purpose of this randomized double-blind study was to determine the optimal dose of epidural morphine by establishing a dose-effect relationship. The 139 patients, who had orthopedic operations on the lower extremities, received continuous lumbar epidural anesthesia with bupivacaine, 0.75%, with or without the addition of 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 mg of morphine hydrochloride. Analgesia and side effects were determined during the first 24 hr postoperatively. In the 12-hr period after epidural anesthesia, arterial blood gas tensions were compared between those patients who received 5 mg morphine (n = 13) and those who received no morphine (n = 14). Patients who received 2 or more mg of morphine were less likely to require the administration of postoperative systemic analgesics (P less than 0.05). The addition of 2 or more mg of morphine to bupivacaine, 0.75%, reduced postoperative pain intensity (P less than 0.05); 5 mg of morphine reduced pain intensity for the longest time. Frequency of catheterization and pruritus increased dose-dependently. The mean PaCO2 after 5 mg of epidural morphine averaged 5 mm Hg higher than in the control group, indicating minor respiratory depression, better analgesia, or both. The dose of 3 mg of epidural morphine added to the local anesthetic is recommended for postoperative analgesia after surgery of the lower extremity; it is a compromise that provides adequate analgesia with an acceptably low frequency and intensity of side effects.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]