Efficacy of Ondansetron in Prevention of Intrathecal Morphine Induced Pruritus

Abstract

     Intrathecal morphine was the most popular than a decade ago and is effective analgesic regimen for cesarean section. Unfortunately, the use of intrathecal morphine was associated with side effects such as nausea, vomiting and pruritus. The present study was a double blind randomized controlled trial and designed to compare the efficacy of ondansetron and normal saline in prevention of pruritus in 80 patients undergoing cesarean section under spinal morphine anesthesia. The test drugs given in a double-blind and randomized fashion were either ondansetron 4 mg or normal saline 2 ml intravenously administrated immediately after childbirth and cutting of umbilical cord. Pruritus and safety assessment were performed continuously during 24 hours post operative period as 0-1 hour in recovery room, 1-6 hour and 6-24 hour at ward. The collected data were analyzed by chi-square and compared mean between group by ANOVA.
     The incidence of pruritus and postoperative adverse events were not significantly different between the groups. We conclude that ondansetron was not better than normal saline in the prevention of post operative pruritus induced by intrathecal morphine.