Epidural Morphine in Obstetric Analgesica

Abstract

In the last two years, controversial results have been published in various reports on the use of epidural morphine alone or in combination with local anaesthetics in obstetric analgesia⁽¹⁾. In their report on 13 gravida, Hartung and colleagues⁽²⁾ found complete analgesia in 1 case and adequate analgesia in 8 cases, using 10 mg of morphine alone. Magora⁽³⁾ rated the analgesia as fair in 2 and poor in 12 out of 14 women following 2–3 mg, whereas Husemeyer⁽⁴⁾ could not demonstrate any pain relief in 10 patients using 2 mg of morphine.