Post-operative opioid-related adverse events with intravenous oxycodone compared to morphine: A randomized controlled...

The value of intravenous oxycodone compared to morphine remains controversial. The purpose of this trial was to compare opioid-related adverse events (ORAES) of intravenous oxycodone and morphine after total hip arthroplasty.

Patients scheduled for total hip arthroplasty were enrolled in this study of post-operative pain treatment with intravenous oxycodone or intravenous morphine (ratio 1:1). After surgery, patients received similar drug regimens for titration in the post-operative care unit followed by intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). The primary outcome was the number of patients with ≥1 ORAEs within the first 24 hours defined as either nausea, vomiting, respiratory depression, pruritus, urinary retention requiring evacuation, allergy, hallucinations. Secondary outcomes included pain scores and opioid consumption.

The analysis included 238 patients with similar characteristics. There were 55 patients with at least one ORAEs in the oxycodone group vs 46 in the morphine group: 48% vs 40%, P = .19; relative risk = 1.22 (0.91:1.63). Intravenous oxycodone vs intravenous morphine requirements were respectively (median, IQR): 6 (0-11) vs 8 (0-12) mg (P = .06) for titration, 15 (8-26) vs 8 (5-16) mg (P = .001) for PCA, and 22 (12-37) mg vs 19 (11-28) mg for cumulated intravenous consumption (P = .048). During the first 24 hours, there was no difference in secondary outcomes (oxycodone vs morphine, respectively, in %): nausea (15 vs 13), vomiting (5 vs 5), urinary retention (20 vs 12) or pain scores.

This study demonstrates that IV oxycodone did not significantly reduce ORAEs within the first 24 hours compared to similar ratio of IV morphine.