European journal of anaesthesiology
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Intrathecal morphine in cardiac surgery.
The effects of intrathecal morphine in 60 patients undergoing open-heart surgery were studied in an observer-blind control trial. The patients were randomly allocated into three groups of 20 each: (A) Control, (B) 2 mg and (C) 4 mg of intrathecal morphine. This study confirms that intrathecal morphine provides useful post-operative analgesia. ⋯ Since the completion of this study, reports have suggested that 1 mg of morphine intrathecally avoids the serious complications of respiratory depression. In the study described, the patients were electively ventilated post-operatively and respiratory depression was therefore not a problem. Of the other associated side-effects of intrathecal morphine, vomiting (20%) and pruritus (20%) proved the most troublesome.