Non‐parenteral postoperative analgesia

Abstract
Sixty‐nine patients undergoing upper and lower abdominal surgery were studied after operation to compare the analgesic effects of sublingual buprenorphine (0.4 mg) and slow release morphine sulphate tablets (MST, 20 mg) given 6 hourly in a double‐blind, double‐dummy trial. Both MST and buprenorphine produced satisfactory postoperative analgesia but the linear analogue pain scores were significantly lower on the second post operative day with MST.