After elective cesarean delivery, 100 μg intrathecal morphine and ropivacaine wound infusion both increased the duration and effect of postcesarean analgesia without increased incidence of side effects.

In the conditions of our study, sufentanil 5 μg was the opioid of choice, associated with the best quality of anaesthesia without increased incidence of side effects.

(Acta Anaesthesiol Scand 2016) [Epub ahead of print] Several studies have shown that the addition of opioids, such as morphine, to an intrathecal (IT) local anesthetic solution prolongs the effective postoperative analgesia in women undergoing cesarean section. Two of the most commonly administered lipophilic opioids are fentanyl and sufentanil. As there are few studies that compare these 2 agents, the authors of the present study investigated the effective analgesia duration, postoperative morphine requirement, and incidence of side effects for both IT fentanyl and sufentanil.