A DOUBLE-BLIND COMPARISON OF MORPHINE INFUSION AND PATIENT-CONTROLLEDANALGESIA IN CHILDREN

The analgesia provided after major abdominal surgery in 30 children by continuous morphine infusion and patient controlled analgesia, also u sing morphine, was compared using a double-blind, double-dummy design. The groups of children were comparable in age, weight, duration of op eration and sex ratio. Pain assessment was carried out by a single obs erver using a visual analogue scale and the Poker Chip Tool. Assessmen ts took place during two four-hour periods, one on the day of operatio n and one the following day. Children aged between nine and 15 years a chieved better pain relief with patient controlled analgesia. No diffe rence could be shown in children aged between five and eight years.