morphine + naloxone

Morphine + naloxone is a combination therapy being investigated by Assiut University for the reduction of opioid-induced side effects during spinal anesthesia. In this specific clinical context, an ultra-low dose of intrathecal naloxone (5 ng/kg) is added to intrathecal morphine (0.2 mg) and bupivacaine. Morphine acts as a potent mu-opioid receptor agonist to provide postoperative analgesia, while the ultra-low dose of naloxone, a mu-opioid receptor antagonist, is intended to minimize common opioid-related side effects such as pruritus, postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), urinary retention, and respiratory depression without compromising the analgesic efficacy of the morphine. The rationale for this combination is that ultra-low doses of naloxone can selectively antagonize excitatory opioid receptor signaling or side-effect-mediating pathways without reversing the inhibitory, analgesic effects of morphine in the spinal cord.

Other names

intrathecal morphine and naloxoneultra-low dose naloxone and morphinemorphine-naloxone combination