Local administration of morphine for analgesia after iliac bone graft harvest (Retraction in: Anesthesiology (2009) 110:3 (689))
Background: Harvesting autogenous bone grafts from the ilium may cause considerable pain and may represent a significant source of postoperative morbidity. The local application of morphine can reduce pain in a rat model of bone damage. We evaluated the analgesic efficacy of administering morphine to the donor bone graft site for spinal fusion surgery. Methods: Sixty patients undergoing cervical spinal fusion surgery using autogenous bone harvested from the ilium were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Group 1 was given saline infiltrated into the harvest site, group 2 was given 5 mg intramuscular morphine; group 3 was given 5 mg morphine infiltrated into the harvest site. After surgery, all patients were given morphine through a patient-controlled analgesia pump. Pain scores both from the harvest and the incision sites, as well as morphine use, were recorded at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 24 h after surgery. At 1 yr after surgery the presence and subjective characteristics of donor site pain were recorded. Results: Total 24-h morphine use (milligrams) was significantly lower (P < 0.0001) in group 3 (33.7 ± 8.3 mg, mean ± SD), compared with either group 1 (64.3 ± 6.6 mg) or group 2 (59.6 ± 9.3 mg). Pain from the graft site was scored the same at 2 h but remained significantly lower (P < 0.0001) for group 3 at all later time intervals. Pain scores from the incision site were similar among the three study groups. One year after surgery, 25% of patients reported having chronic donor site pain. The association of chronic donor site pain was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in groups 1 (33%) and 2 (37%) compared with group 3 (5%). Conclusion: Low-dose morphine applied to the harvest graft site can reduce local pain, morphine use, and chronic donor site pain after cervical spine fusion surgery.