[The use of prolonged epidural analgesia with morphine for relief of the pain syndrome in patients with acute myocardial infarct].

Nociceptive effect of conventional and morphine-prolonged epidural analgesia (MPEA) has been compared in 60 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In 30 patients of the test group pain was relieved with MPEA used during 7 days, while in 30 control patients analgesia was performed with the intravenous administration of morphine or fentanyl, or neuroleptanalgesia was used. MPEA was shown to produce a more prompt and reliable anesthetic effect, thus improving the clinical course of AMI. As regards all the parameters, the effect of MPEA was higher compared to conventional analgesia techniques.