Analgesia in acute pancreatitis: Comparison of buprenorphine and pethidine

Abstract

The pain of acute pancreatitis is severe, often necessitating opiate analgesia. Pethidine has become the drug of choice, probably because classic teaching held that morphine causes spasm of the sphincter of Oddi. Buprenorphine, a new derivative of thebaine, provides longer analgesia after surgery and more effective pain relief in renal colic than conventional opiates. We compared buprenorphine and pethidine in the initial management of pain in acute pancreatitis.