Pediatric patient-controlled analgesia with morphine versus meperidine

To assess prospectively any difference in either analgesia or side effect frequency with morphine versus meperidine, 50 patients, ages 8-16 years, were randomly assigned to receive postoperative patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with either morphine or meperidine. A numerical rating scale pain score was obtained from each patient twice a day, and any nausea, vomiting, pruritus, or urinary retention requiring catheterization was noted. No significant difference in the incidence of side effects was noted between the morphine and meperidine groups; however, pain scores during morphine PCA were significantly less than those during meperidine PCA (P less than 0.001). These results suggest that morphine is the better opioid for pediatric PCA.