Effectiveness of nalbuphine for relief of burn debridement pain

A prospective double-blind study was undertaken to compare the effectiveness of the agonist-antagonist nalbuphine hydrochloride with morphine sulfate in relieving pain from burn debridement. The study consisted of two groups in which each was given a preprocedure dose of the study medication followed by administration of incremental doses up to one half the initial dose as requested. After reviewing the literature, we set the ratio of nalbuphine hydrochloride/morphine sulfate at 2:1 mg, respectively. Safety and efficacy were determined by measurements of vital signs, sedation, adverse effects, and patient evaluation of pain intensity and relief with the use of both an adjective and a visual analogue scale. Analysis showed no significant differences in the variables measured. Therefore in relieving burn debridement pain, we found nalbuphine hydrochloride to be as effective as morphine sulfate. We also found that respiratory depression was not a problem in either group.