Nebulized morphine for relief of dyspnea due to chronic lung disease.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of nebulized morphine for the management of dyspnea in chronic pulmonary diseases.

DATA SOURCES:

MEDLINE (1966-May 2004), EMBASE (1980-May 2004), and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970-May 2004) searches were performed. Key search terms included morphine, dyspnea, and inhalation.

DATA SYNTHESIS:

Nine studies have evaluated the efficacy of nebulized morphine in relieving dyspnea. Three trials had positive results, but the rest failed to show improvement after treatment with doses ranging from 1 to 40 mg nebulized morphine. The small number of subjects, variety of disease states, and different outcome measures limit interpretation of the studies.

CONCLUSIONS:

Results from several small studies do not support the use of nebulized morphine for treatment of dyspnea; however, several positive case reports have been published.

• Authors: Sherrill J Brown, Samantha F Eichner, Jennifer R Jones
• Journal: The Annals of pharmacotherapy (Ann Pharmacother) Vol. 39 Issue 6 Pg. 1088-92 (Jun 2005) ISSN: 1060-0280 [Print] United States
• PMID: 15840735 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Meta-Analysis, Review)

Chemical References

• Analgesics, Opioid
• Morphine

Topics

• Administration, Inhalation
• Analgesics, Opioid (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Chronic Disease
• Clinical Trials as Topic
• Dyspnea (drug therapy, etiology)
• Humans
• Morphine (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Nebulizers and Vaporizers
• Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive (complications)
• Treatment Outcome