Oxyhaemoglobin saturation following elective abdominal surgery in patients receiving continuous intravenous infusion or intramuscular morphine analgesia

• Published in: Anaesthesia Vol. 47; no. 3; p. 256
• Main Authors: Kluger, M T, Owen, H, Watson, D, Ilsley, A H, Baldwin, A M, Fronsko, R R, Plummer, J L, Brose, W G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.03.1992
• Subjects: Abdomen - surgery; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Humans; Infusions, Intravenous; Injections, Intramuscular; Middle Aged; Monitoring, Physiologic; Morphine - therapeutic use; Oximetry; Oxyhemoglobins - analysis; Pain Measurement; Pain, Postoperative - blood; Pain, Postoperative - drug therapy; Time Factors
• ISSN: 0003-2409
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.1992.tb02131.x

Oxygen saturation was continuously measured using computerised pulse oximetry for 8 h overnight pre-operatively and for the first 24 h postoperatively in 40 patients receiving intermittent intramuscular morphine or continuous infusion of morphine following elective upper abdominal surgery. The proportion of time with an oxygen saturation less than 94% was used as an index of desaturation. Patients receiving continuous infusion analgesia received a larger morphine dose and achieved better analgesia than the intramuscular group. Postoperatively, the duration of desaturation increased 10-fold over pre-operative values, 'intramuscular' patients spending 39.0% (SD, 37.0%) and 'continuous infusion' patients 40.0% (SD, 37.5%) of the time below 94% saturation. Although newer therapies (e.g. epidural analgesia and patient-controlled analgesia) are currently receiving greater attention, the sequelae of these more traditional analgesic techniques warrant further study.