Pulmonary complications after intrathecal morphine administration: a systematic review and meta‐analysis with meta‐regression and trial sequential analysis

Summary Introduction Intrathecal morphine provides effective postoperative analgesia, but there are concerns about potential pulmonary complications influencing peri‐operative management. We aimed to determine whether there is an association between intrathecal morphine administration and pulmonary complications after non‐obstetric surgery. We also aimed to determine whether there was a dose‐dependent effect on pulmonary complications. Methods We searched the literature systematically for randomised controlled trials comparing intrathecal morphine vs. control in patients undergoing any type of non‐obstetric surgery under general or spinal anaesthesia. Primary outcomes were rates of postoperative sedation, respiratory depression and hypoxaemia. We performed a meta‐analysis and meta‐regression for each of our outcomes of interest and conducted trial sequential analysis to assess whether the required information size was achieved. Results We included 127 trials (7388 patients). Rates of sedation and hypoxaemia were not increased significantly in patients receiving intrathecal morphine (odds ratio 1.00, 95%CI 0.78–1.28, p = 0.98, moderate quality evidence; and 1.22, 95%CI 0.84–1.79, p = 0.30, moderate quality evidence, respectively). There were more episodes of respiratory depression in patients receiving intrathecal morphine than control (odds ratio 1.78, 95%CI 1.19–2.67, p = 0.005, very low‐quality evidence), which was no longer significant when morphine doses > 500 μg were not included (odds ratio1.49, 95%CI 0.99–2.23, p = 0.06). Meta‐regression revealed associations between dose and rate of sedation, respiratory depression and hypoxaemia, but when doses of > 500 μg were not included, these associations did not persist. Trial sequential analyses suggest that further data may still be required for all outcomes, but statistical significance was reached for respiratory depression. Discussion There is moderate evidence that intrathecal morphine does not increase rates of sedation or hypoxaemia after non‐obstetric surgery. There is very low‐quality evidence that intrathecal morphine might increase the rate of respiratory depression.