Patient-controlled analgesia following caesarean section: a comparison of morphine and meptazinol.
Forty-eight women were investigated in a prospective double-blind study and randomised to receive intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with meptazinol or morphine following elective caesarean section. Women received PCA boluses of 1 mg morphine or 10 mg meptazinol with no background infusion. Total drug consumption measured over a 24 h period, pain (visual analogue scores), sedation scores, incidence of nausea and vomiting, and requests for rescue analgesia were compared. Both meptazinol and morphine delivered via PCA provide satisfactory analgesia after caesarean section. There was no statistically significant difference in pain scores (P = 0.47) or the incidence of side-effects (nausea/vomiting P = 0.076, sedation P = 0.63) between the two drugs. Meptazinol is more expensive and offers no clinical advantages in this group of patients.
Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital, Glasgow, UK.
K S
KS
James
I T
IT
Davidson
E
E
McGrady