Epidural morphine: a new approach to combined anesthesia and analgesia in urological patients

Abstract

The effect of combined epidural anesthesia and epidural morphine injection is discussed. A group of 98 patients (group A), chosen at random, was operated on under such combined anesthesia and compared to a similar group of 98 patients (group B), equally chosen at random, operated on under either spinal or general anesthesia with no epidural morphine added. Over 87% of group A needed no narcotic drugs for postoperative pain. All patients in the group B needed 60-80 mg of morphine during the first 48 postoperative hours. The quantity of morphine required was the main parameter for comparison. The postoperative course in group A was considerably easier while the operative results were equal in both groups.