Israel journal of medical sciences
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Epidural morphine was evaluated for the control of postoperative pain after cesarean section (CS). Sixty-five patients undergoing elective CS with epidural bupivacaine were studied. Of these, 40 were given a single dose of 4 mg of morphine through an epidural catheter on termination of surgery. ⋯ The epidural morphine was associated with a prolonged period of postoperative analgesia and a greatly reduced total papaveretum requirement for the 48 h (30.9 mg for the study group in contrast to 67.6 mg for the controls). The difference between the two groups was significant (P less than 0.001). We concluded that epidural morphine is an efficient method for the control of postoperative pain following CS, a single dose of 4 mg providing relief from pain for 8 to 12 h and sometimes longer.