• T T McLintock, G N Kenny, J C Howie, C S McArdle, S Lawrie, and H Aitken.
• Department of Anaesthesia, Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow, UK.
• Br J Surg. 1988 Aug 1;75(8):779-81.

AbstractA randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed to assess the analgesic efficacy of intramuscular nefopam hydrochloride after upper abdominal surgery. Patients received either 20 mg nefopam (n = 23) or matching placebo (n = 26), 90 min before surgery, immediately after surgery, and 6, 12 and 18 h after the end of surgery. The 24-h morphine requirements were measured using a patient-controlled analgesia system delivering on-demand intravenous bolus doses of morphine. Pain was assessed using visual analogue scales. Patients receiving nefopam had a mean (+/- s.e.m.) cumulative morphine consumption of 4.1 +/- 0.8 mg in the first hour, compared with 8.5 +/- 0.8 mg in the control group (P less than 0.01). After 24 h the consumptions were 44.1 +/- 7.2 mg and 62.5 +/- 6.9 mg respectively (P less than 0.05). The pain scores in both groups were similar. This study confirms that nefopam hydrochloride has significant analgesic effects and would be a useful supplement to morphine in the management of postoperative pain.

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