Relief of abdominal pain by morphine without altering physical signs in acute appendicitis.
BACKGROUND
Abdominal pain is a common symptom among patients with acute appendicitis, yet these patients have long been denied relief from suffering because of widespread misconceptions associated with the use of opioids. We determined whether morphine hydrochloride masked the physical signs in adults with acute appendicitis and assessed the efficacy of morphine in relieving abdominal pain.


METHODS
A prospective, double-blind, placebo controlled, clinical trial was conducted with 106 adult patients between 16 and 70 years old with acute appendicitis. Patients were randomly divided into a morphine group (n=54) or a normal saline group (n=52). All patients presented with acute abdominal pain with onset within 3 days. The morphine group received hypodermic injection of morphine (0.15 mg/kg; maximum 20 mg) and the control group members were given an equivalent volume of normal saline solution. The clinical symptoms, physical signs, and patients' cooperation during physical examination were assessed before and after 30 minutes of morphine or normal saline administration.


RESULTS
Abdominal pain was significantly relieved and the patients' cooperation was improved in the morphine group after 30 minutes treatment compared with the control group and before morphine administration (P<0.05). The physical signs were unaffected by either treatment (P>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Morphine relieved abdominal pain and improved the patients' cooperation for treatment and care. Furthermore, the morphine did not mask the physical signs of acute appendicitis.
Department of Emergency, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan 650101, China.
Yong
Y
Yuan
Jia-yong
JY
Chen
Hao
H
Guo
Yi
Y
Zhang
Dao-ming
DM
Liang
Dong
D
Zhou
Hui
H
Zhao
Feng
F
Lin
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009020:Morphine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D055815:Young Adult
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D009020:Morphine