Spinal Hydromorphone Versus Morphine for Post-Cesarean Delivery Analgesia

Summary

Morphine is usually used for pain relief after cesarean delivery. However, sometimes it is not available, the patient might be allergic to morphine or intolerant to its side effects. Hydromorphone, another drug from the same class, might be used alternatively, but we need to prove that it is not inferior to morphine.

Timeline

Start

2020-11-11

Primary completion

2022-07-28

Completion

2022-07-28

Publications

• Background Palmer CM, Emerson S, Volgoropolous D, Alves D. Dose-response relationship of intrathecal morphine for postcesarean analgesia. Anesthesiology. 1999 Feb;90(2):437-44. doi: 10.1097/00000542-199902000-00018.
• Background Rathmell JP, Pino CA, Taylor R, Patrin T, Viani BA. Intrathecal morphine for postoperative analgesia: a randomized, controlled, dose-ranging study after hip and knee arthroplasty. Anesth Analg. 2003 Nov;97(5):1452-1457. doi: 10.1213/01.ANE.0000083374.44039.9E.
• Background Wong JY, Carvalho B, Riley ET. Intrathecal morphine 100 and 200 mug for post-cesarean delivery analgesia: a trade-off between analgesic efficacy and side effects. Int J Obstet Anesth. 2013 Jan;22(1):36-41. doi: 10.1016/j.ijoa.2012.09.006. Epub 2012 Nov 15.
• Background Milner AR, Bogod DG, Harwood RJ. Intrathecal administration of morphine for elective Caesarean section. A comparison between 0.1 mg and 0.2 mg. Anaesthesia. 1996 Sep;51(9):871-3. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.1996.tb12622.x.
• Background Girgin NK, Gurbet A, Turker G, Aksu H, Gulhan N. Intrathecal morphine in anesthesia for cesarean delivery: dose-response relationship for combinations of low-dose intrathecal morphine and spinal bupivacaine. J Clin Anesth. 2008 May;20(3):180-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinane.2007.07.010.
• Background Gerancher JC, Floyd H, Eisenach J. Determination of an effective dose of intrathecal morphine for pain relief after cesarean delivery. Anesth Analg. 1999 Feb;88(2):346-51. doi: 10.1097/00000539-199902000-00023.
• Background Ventola CL. The drug shortage crisis in the United States: causes, impact, and management strategies. P T. 2011 Nov;36(11):740-57. No abstract available.
• Background Deer TR, Smith HS, Burton AW, Pope JE, Doleys DM, Levy RM, Staats PS, Wallace MS, Webster LR, Rauck RL, Cousins M; Center For Pain Relief, Inc. Comprehensive consensus based guidelines on intrathecal drug delivery systems in the treatment of pain caused by cancer pain. Pain Physician. 2011 May-Jun;14(3):E283-312.
• Background Dougherty TB, Baysinger CL, Henenberger JC, Gooding DJ. Epidural hydromorphone with and without epinephrine for post-operative analgesia after cesarean delivery. Anesth Analg. 1989 Mar;68(3):318-22.
• Background Parker RK, Sawaki Y, White PF. Epidural patient-controlled analgesia: influence of bupivacaine and hydromorphone basal infusion on pain control after cesarean delivery. Anesth Analg. 1992 Nov;75(5):740-6. doi: 10.1213/00000539-199211000-00015.
• Background Beatty NC, Arendt KW, Niesen AD, Wittwer ED, Jacob AK. Analgesia after Cesarean delivery: a retrospective comparison of intrathecal hydromorphone and morphine. J Clin Anesth. 2013 Aug;25(5):379-383. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinane.2013.01.014. Epub 2013 Aug 17.
• Background Rauch E. Intrathecal hydromorphone for postoperative analgesia after cesarean delivery: a retrospective study. AANA J. 2012 Aug;80(4 Suppl):S25-32.
• Background Sviggum HP, Arendt KW, Jacob AK, Niesen AD, Johnson RL, Schroeder DR, Tien M, Mantilla CB. Intrathecal Hydromorphone and Morphine for Postcesarean Delivery Analgesia: Determination of the ED90 Using a Sequential Allocation Biased-Coin Method. Anesth Analg. 2016 Sep;123(3):690-7. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000001229.
• Background Rauch E. Intrathecal hydromorphone for cesarean delivery: in search of improved postoperative pain management: a case report. AANA J. 2011 Oct;79(5):427-32.
• Background Ciechanowicz S, Setty T, Robson E, Sathasivam C, Chazapis M, Dick J, Carvalho B, Sultan P. Development and evaluation of an obstetric quality-of-recovery score (ObsQoR-11) after elective Caesarean delivery. Br J Anaesth. 2019 Jan;122(1):69-78. doi: 10.1016/j.bja.2018.06.011. Epub 2018 Jul 31.
• Cheng S, Bartolacci J, Armstrong K, Dobrowlanski A, Jones PM, Singh SI, Sebbag I. Intrathecal Hydromorphone Versus Intrathecal Morphine for Postcesarean Delivery Analgesia: A Randomized Noninferiority Trial. Anesth Analg. 2026 Jan 1;142(1):19-27. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000007580. Epub 2025 Jun 10.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.