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Rarely-needed opiates

Authoring team

Morphine, diamorphine and Fentanyl are easy to use and highly effective in the vast majority of patients and so other opiates are seldom used:

  • methadone is used only if there are problems with morphine: beware of its very long half-life
  • pethidine is not advised because of its short half-life and the problem of frequently repeated doses
  • papaveretum (Omnopon) is not advised: it is a mixture of natural opiates
  • buprenorphine (Temgesic) sublingually is occasionally helpful but antagonises other opiates
  • dextromoramide (Palfium) has a very short half-life and may be used to cover painful procedures

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