title: The addition of opioids to local anaesthetics in brachial plexus block: the comparative effects of morphine, buprenorphine and sufentanil.
abstract: We compared the duration of analgesia produced by a mixture of lignocaine and bupivacaine, either alone or combined with morphine (75 micrograms.kg-1), buprenorphine (3 micrograms.kg-1) or sufentanil (0.2 microgram.kg-1) in 80 patients after brachial plexus block for orthopaedic surgery of the upper limb. The characteristics of analgesia were evaluated hourly using a visual analogue scale. The analgesia was considered satisfactory for scores of 30 or less. The median duration (range) of satisfactory analgesia was: 11.5 (8-15) h without an opioid, 21 (9-27) h with morphine, 20 (14-34) h with buprenorphine and 24.5 (11-38) h with sufentanil. We conclude that the addition of an opioid to a local anaesthetic mixture lengthens the duration of analgesia.
authors.affiliation: Département d'Anaesthésie et de Réanimation, Hôpital Universitaire G. Montpied, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Bazin
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Massoni
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bruelle
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fenies
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Groslier
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schoeffler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D001134:Arm Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D001917:Brachial Plexus; D002047:Buprenorphine; D005260:Female; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009020:Morphine; D009407:Nerve Block / Q000379:methods*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017409:Sufentanil; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D002047:Buprenorphine; D009020:Morphine; D017409:Sufentanil