Anaesthesia with continuous thiopentone infusion, epidural morphine and relaxant

Twenty-three patients undergoing surgery below T.6 dermatome were anaesthetized with epidural morphine 20 mg in 15 ml of saline, thiopentone drip 0.04-0.1 mg/kg/min. and pancuronium 0.1 mg/kg. The patients had satisfactory analgesia intra-operatively. Post-operative analgesia lasted for varying periods ranging from 13 hours to 24 hours and above. The cardiovascular system was stable. Post-epidural morphine complications of respiratory depression (three patients), urinary retention (one patient) and pruritus (one patient) were seen and they were managed successfully.