ReviewCureus2025
Optimizing Intrathecal Opioid Strategies for Cesarean Section: A Comprehensive Narrative Review of Pharmacology, Clinical Outcomes, and Safety.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Temperature Dysregulation Following Intrathecal Morphine for Cesarean Delivery Patients-A Scoping Review.Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Analgesic Efficacy and Safety of Intrathecal Morphine in Surgical Patients: A Narrative Review.Cureus · 2026Review
- Salivary Substance P Levels During Cesarean Section Under Spinal versus General Anesthesia: A Prospective Study.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Article
- Analgesic efficacy and safety of transversus abdominis plane block in women undergoing cesarean delivery: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Saudi journal of anaesthesiaReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Intrathecal opioids (ITOs), such as morphine, fentanyl, and sufentanil, are widely used as adjuvants in spinal anesthesia for cesarean sections to enhance postoperative analgesia and reduce systemic opioid exposure. Optimizing their selection and dosing is critical to balancing effective analgesia with maternal and fetal safety. This article aims to critically analyze the use of intrathecal opioids in spinal anesthesia for cesarean sections, focusing on their mechanisms of action, clinical benefits, associated risks, and role within Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols. A comprehensive narrative review was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar to identify relevant literature published between January 2010 and March 30, 2025. Morphine provides prolonged postoperative analgesia but is associated with higher rates of pruritus and delayed respiratory depression. Fentanyl and sufentanil offer faster onset but shorter analgesic duration. Combining intrathecal opioids with local anesthetics improves hemodynamic stability and reduces overall opioid requirements. While adverse effects are common, they are dose-dependent and manageable with appropriate monitoring. The tailored selection of intrathecal opioids, guided by pharmacological profiles and patient-specific factors, enhances analgesia and patient-specific safety in cesarean delivery. Refining dosing strategies and integrating multimodal analgesia protocols are essential to minimize adverse effects and optimize maternal and neonatal outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.