Trial reportAnaesthesia2026
Intravenous methadone for pain management in cardiac surgery: a randomised controlled trial with plasma concentration analysis.
Trial report in Anaesthesia, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Efficacy and safety of intravenous methadone for pain management in cardiac surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionPostoperative pain after cardiac surgery remains significant despite the administration of opioids. Methadone may improve pain control and decrease the need for postoperative opioids. Randomised controlled trials, however, are limited and the effects of cardiopulmonary bypass on methadone pharmacokinetics are unclear. The aims of this study were to compare methadone and morphine in cardiac surgery, measuring methadone concentrations and correlating them with pain control.
methodsPatients undergoing cardiac surgery that required cardiopulmonary bypass were allocated randomly to receive either 0.2 mg.kg
resultsIn total, 80 patients were analysed (40 allocated to the methadone group, 40 allocated to the morphine group). Patients allocated to the methadone group had significantly reduced 24-h and total postoperative morphine requirements compared to those allocated to the morphine group (median (IQR [range]) 9 (5-16 [0-40]) mg vs. 24 (17-43 [4-54]) mg (p < 0.001) at 24 h and 35 (23-52 [5-66]) mg vs. 11 (7-20 [0-44]) mg (p < 0.001) total). Patients allocated to the methadone group had lower pain scores at rest (β -2.24, standard error 0.49, p < 0.001) and on coughing (β -2.16, standard error 0.50, p < 0.001). There was no difference in the incidence of opioid-related adverse effects between the two groups. Plasma methadone concentration decreased during cardiopulmonary bypass but remained above the minimum effective analgesic concentration for approximately 24 h after administration (mean (SD) 51 (24.7) ng.ml DISCUSSION: Intra-operative methadone reduces postoperative analgesia requirements without increasing the incidence of opioid-related adverse events.
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