Effect of combining naloxone and morphine for intravenous patient-controlled analgesia.

Background: An early study showed that a naloxone infusion decreased the incidence of morphine-related side effects from intravenous patient-controlled analgesia. The authors tested the hypothesis that a more convenient combination of morphine and naloxone via patient-controlled analgesia would decrease the incidence of side effects compared to morphine alone.

Methods: Patients scheduled for hysterectomy under general anaesthesia were enrolled in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.