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Sublingual buprenorphine as safe, effective as morphine for acute fracture pain management
Jalili M. J Ann Emerg Med. 2011. doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2011.10.021
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Sublingual buprenorphine in 0.4 mg doses is as safe and effective as 5 mg of intravenous morphine for pain management in cases of adult patients with acute fractures, according to this study from researchers in Iran.
The authors performed a double-blind, double-dummy randomized controlled trial wherein 89 patients were given either 0.4 mg buprenorphine sublingually or 5 mg morphine intravenously. Patients were asked to grade their pain with a standard 11-point numeric rating scale prior to medication administration, 30 minutes after and 60 minutes after. Adverse reactions were also recorded.
According to the study abstract, 44 patients were placed in the buprenorphine group, with 45 patients placed in the morphine group. At the 30-minute and 60-minute marks, the researchers found mean pain scores were similar between the two groups.
Nausea, dizziness and hypotension were observed in both groups.