A comparison of the incidence of pruritus following epidural opioid administration in the parturient

Abstract

Epidural morphine is associated with a high incidence of pruritus when used for pain control in the post-Caesarean section population. The purpose of this study was to compare the incidence of pruritus associated with epidural morphine, fentanyl, buprenorphine and butorphanol. Sixty healthy Caesarean section patients were studied in a double-blind randomized fashion. Patients were questioned at 1, 3, 12 and 24 hours postpartum for the incidence of pruritus. This study demonstrated that the incidence of pruritus was significantly higher following the use of epidural morphine and fentanyl. Even though epidural butorphanol and buprenorphine exhibited a low incidence of pruritus, their duration of analgesia was not long enough to make either attractive for single-dose administration.