Question:
Epidural vs. Morphine Pump
I'm having open RNY surgery in 5 days and I found out that I have an option with the pain control choices. What are the pros and cons with the epidural and the morphine pump? Is the epidural riskier? Will I have less pain with the epidural? I don't want to add another unnecessary complication to my surgery! — Sandy V. (posted on October 14, 2000)
October 14, 2000
From a clinical standpoint, the epidural has a higher risk factor because
it is a more invasive procedure. However, it is a frequently used and high
successful form of pain management. Contrary to epidurals used in
childbirth, which generally numb the legs and make walking difficult or
impossible, epidurals used for post-operative pain management alleviate
pain without causing over-sedation, do not cause total numbing, and do
allow patients to be mobile. The morphine pump is also an excellent pain
management tool, but will cause patients to be more sleepy and sedated.
Some individuals will not consider an epidural due to their anxiety about
"spinal anesthesias" in general; however the complication rate
for epidurals is very small. Either choice will give you what you want:
relief from post-op pain. Good luck!
— Diana T.
October 14, 2000
Sandy, I didn't have a choice (I had the morphine pump), but if I did, I
would not choose the epidural. I had one for the birth of my second
daughter. The injection is given in the spine and it hurts like a massive
bee sting. I guess I'd have a different opinion if actually was effective
on me, but it was not. I think the anesthesologist missed the mark, so I
felt everything as if I had no painkillers at all! The morphine is
piggybacked to your IV, so there is no further pain associated with it.
Just my .02....Good Luck.
— Allie B.
October 14, 2000
Hi Sandy, I had an epidural and loved it! It was wonderful. I had no pain
from start to finish. When I woke up from surgery, the epidural was
already flowing & I felt nothing. I've heard so many stories about
people waking up in terrible pain & having to wait for the nurse to
give the meds. I also had an epidural for the birth of my boys, but this
was very different. No numbness, etc. After 3 days, they took out my
epidural & put me on demoral in my main line. That was great too!
Love that Demoral! After 3 days of that, they put me on Vicoden to go home
with. I took it for a couple days and that was it. No pain..start to
finish. Good luck with your choice!
— [Deactivated Member]
October 14, 2000
Sandy, I had the epidural inserted before surgery and it hurt a lot. I woke
up in recovery and it didn't work. I was crying begging them to let me die
it hurt so bad. They then inserted a morphine pump and I was so happy , I
could have cried. I will never trust anyone to put in an epidural in me
again. I am sure it was just my bad luck , but it was inserted twice and
failed both times , for me the morphine pump is the only way to go now.Good
luck whichever you decide and speedy recovery.
— Heather T.
October 14, 2000
I was terrified of the epidural before surgery, and had made up my mind to
have the morphine pump. The day of surgery a team of anesthesiologists came
to me very concerned about my choice. They explained that because the
surgery is so high up in the chest and is so painful, patients do not want
to breathe properly when they have morphine. They told me all of the
complications that I would probably have if I decided not to have an
epidural. They scared the crap out of me, and I decided to have it done.
They took me into the OR, had me sit on the table kind of hunched over, and
put a little numbing medicine in my back. A nurse held my hand because I
was crying a bit due to fear. Then they brought in a fluoroscope, a large X
ray machine that shows images in real time. They used this to see the exact
position of the epidural. It did not hurt going in, I was startled once by
a bit of pressure, but no pain. They checked it before surgery to make sure
I was numb in all the right places. It was working, and they knocked me out
and got on with the surgery. **When I woke up, I was utterly amazed at how
little pain I was in. My IV's hurt, my foot hurt, my incision did not hurt
at all. I was able to breathe, and I was alert and aware like I never was
before with the morphine.*** They kept it in for 3 more days, and the tape
they used to keep it in place worked just fine. I also got a demand button
to use if I needed an extra shot. Having had both methods of pain control,
I will use epidurals from now on. I hope this helps you make your decision.
— Cara S.
October 16, 2000
I had the epidural AND the morphine pump. I do not regret my decision.
Best wishes.
— [Deactivated Member]
March 21, 2003
I am a nurse in the surgical unit, and I will tell you that 95% of the time
epidurals are better for abdominal surgical patients. I have never seen one
patient who didn't love it. They can walk (for rapid recovery you have to
walk a lot!) without pain, and usually say, "This epidural is great; I
can't believe I have no pain!" On the otehr hand those who have a
regular morphine PCA drip, are normally having peaks and valleys in pain
control, and they sleep A LOT! They have lots of side effects to the
morphine (profuse sweating that requires the linens be changed, and the
patients hate that cuz they have to move which causes more pain!, nausea,
dizziness, and frequently sleep.). Don't get me wrong, morphine PCA can be
a good drug for pain control, but it's second to epidural. And, if the
epidural doesn't work, they can easily switch to the morphine PCA drip; it
just goes through the IV. Talk to your anesthesiologist and surgeon about
this.
— Laura H.
March 30, 2003
I think that everyone's pain tolerance is different. I don't tolerate
morphine well at all. I did have something else Delauded (?)in my PCA
pump. When that was removed, I was offerred 2 Percosets every 4 hours. I
took them as they were offerred. It made me groggy and more able to sleep.
Well, a day after I came home, I was back in the ER. I was impacted, and
dehydrated from all the meds. Be aware that this can be a side effect of
the narcotice used to control pain. I was in for 4 extra days until my
bowels were finally able to "move" again. SAy NO to drugs if
you can!!!!!!
— Fixnmyself
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