Spinal buprenorphine for postoperative analgesia after caesarean section

Two doses of intrathecal buprenorphine for postoperative analgesia have been compared. Forty-five women undergoing elective caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia were randomly divided into three groups. Group A (controls, n = 15) received hyperbaric bupivacaine; Groups B and C received the same but with the addition of 0.03 mg or 0.045 mg buprenorphine, respectively. Patients receiving buprenorphine had a longer pain-free interval than the controls (P less than 0.01). Within the buprenorphine groups, patients receiving the higher dose had a longer effect (420 min s.d. 24) than those receiving the lower dose (173 min s.d. 31) (P less than 0.01) without any increase in side-effects.