Morphine's Local and Systemic Effects on Postoperative Pain Control in Axillary Node Dissection Patients

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine whether morphine injected at the site of surgery can control pain from surgery. OUTLINE: This is a prospective, double blind, randomized study. Patients are randomized into 3 groups with 6 patients in each group. Group 1 receives morphine diluted in normal saline (NS), which is administered in the axillary region at the completion of surgery before surgical closure. The area is flooded and the solution is allowed to remain in the wound for 5 minutes. Group 2 (control group) receives NS only, administered in the same fashion as group 1. Group 3 receives morphine subcutaneously in the deltoid area, ipsilateral to the site of surgery, at the beginning of wound closure. Postoperatively, patients self-administer IV fentanyl analgesia through a patient controlled analgesia pump. Comparisons of daily IV fentanyl utilization is done among the three groups. Quality of pain is assessed via visual analog pain scores four times a day at 2, 4, 6, and 24 hours postoperatively. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 18 patients will be accrued over a period of 2 years.