Comparison of intrathecal morphine and buprenorphine for postoperative analgesia in cesarean delivery

BACKGROUND: It has become a popular practice to add opioids to spinal solutions to enhance and prolong intraoperative and postoperative analgesia in cesarean section. Morphine is the opioid most widely used for this purpose, but there are few reports about intrathecal buprenorphine. We evaluated the postoperative analgesic effect of intrathecal buprenorphine compared with intrathecal morphine after cesarean section. METHODS: We retrospectively compared group B (n = 20) receiving tetracaine 10mg plus intrathecal buprenorphine 0.05 mg with group M (n = 24) receiving tetracaine 10 mg with intrathecal morphine 0.1 mg in elective cesarean section under spinal anesthesia. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the groups in time to first postoperative supplemental analgesics, times of using postoperative supplemental analgesics and antiemetics within 24 hours after operation, and the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting and pruritus. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that intrathecal buprenorphine 0.05 mg provides similar postoperative analgesic effect with intrathecal morphine 0.1 mg without any increases of side-effects in cesarean section.