Comparison of Morphine- and Hydromorphone-Containing Patient-Controlled Epidural Analgesia Solutions in Pediatric...

The use of patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) in pediatric patients has been shown to be safe and effective in managing postoperative pain in children. However, the optimal opioid to use in the epidural regimen remains undetermined. Morphine, hydromorphone, and fentanyl have been the agents most often used, but comparison of effectiveness across studies is difficult. The goal of this study was to compare postoperative pain scores in patients receiving PCEA solutions that contained either ropivicaine plus morphine or ropivicaine plus hydromorphone.

Retrospective chart review was used at a single center to identify pediatric patients between the ages of 5 and 17 years who used a morphine- or hydromorphone-containing PCEA solution postoperatively during an 18-month period. Maximum pain scores were recorded during 2 consecutive 24-hour periods postoperatively. The primary outcome was the number of patients who had a maximum pain score of ≤4 on postoperative day zero and postoperative day 1.

Forty-six patients met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Patients prescribed morphine-containing PCEAs had a significantly higher incidence of maximal pain scores ≤4 in the 48 hours immediately after surgery compared with those patients prescribed hydromorphone-containing PCEAs (p = 0.03). Ropivicaine dosing in the epidural solution did not have a significant effect on pain scores and was not statistically different between opioid groups. Pediatric patients were able to effectively use the PCEA on-demand dose, with patients having pain scores >4 demanding significantly more on-demand doses from the PCEA than those patients with pain scores ≤4 (p ≤ 0.002). No serious adverse events were reported.

Morphine-containing PCEAs may have an advantage in controlling postoperative pain in pediatric patients compared with hydromorphone-containing PCEAs. However, the heterogeneous nature of the procedures performed and the small sample size limit the generalizability of this study.