Articles: analgesia.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
A comparison of opioid solutions for patient-controlled epidural analgesia.
Sixty patients took part in a randomised, double-blind study to compare the analgesic and side effects of three opioid-containing solutions for patient-controlled epidural analgesia following abdominal surgery. Patients in group 1 received a solution containing bupivacaine 0.125% with fentanyl 10 micrograms.ml-1, group 2 bupivacaine 0.125% with diamorphine 125 micrograms.ml-1, group 3 pethidine 2.5 mg.ml-1. ⋯ Motor block was significantly higher in group 2 (p < 0.004) and pruritus occurred significantly less in group 3 (p < 0.05). We conclude that these three solutions produce equivalent analgesia but that pethidine 2.5 mg.ml-1 may be associated with fewer side effects.
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1. Maternal informed choice in the administration of analgesics is essential. 2. ⋯ Fetal acidosis increases the accumulation of some drugs in the fetal compartment. 5. Reduced maternal blood flow to the placenta reduces the placental transfer of some drugs.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Nov 1996
Review[Balanced spinal analgesia in the treatment of oncologic pain. Review of the literature].
Certain types of cancer pain fail to respond well either to systemic drug therapy or to spinal opioids because of the occurrence of intolerable adverse effects. In addition to spinal opioids other drugs may produce an antinociceptive effect when administered by the spinal route, such as local anesthetics, NSAID, alpha 2-agonists, calcium-channel blockers, NMDA antagonists, cholinergic drugs, peptides such as somatostatin, octreotide or calcitonin, adenosine agonists, benzodiazepines, neurokinin and cholecystokinin antagonists, nitric oxide synthase inhibitors, corticosteroids, and enkephalinase inhibitors. All these drugs may be administered in combination between them, realising the so called balanced spinal analgesia. ⋯ Analysis of the presented data shows that the spinal synergism between opioids-local anesthetics and opioids-alpha 2-agonists can be useful in the treatment of opioid refractory cancer pain. Furthermore, the use of cholinergic drugs combined with opioids and alpha 2-agonists may be promising. Finally, even if the synergism between NSAID or NMDA antagonists with opioids or alpha 2-agonists have been proved, at the moment their use in man by the spinal route is not advisable because of the absence of adequate studies on their neurotoxicity and adverse effects.