A combination of buprenorphine and naloxone compared with buprenorphine administered intramuscularly in postoperative patients.

Sixty patients suffering from moderate to severe pain following either orthopaedic or gynaecological surgery were treated with intramuscular buprenorphine (0.3 mg) or an intramuscular combination of buprenorphine (0.3 mg)/naloxone (0.2 mg) and the analgesic efficacy and safety of the two treatments was compared. The evaluation of efficacy showed that both treatments provided good analgesia which was apparent at the first assessment time (10 minutes) and continued for approximately 10 hours. Only seven patients suffered from unwanted side-effects with only drowsiness/sleepiness and nausea being reported by more than one patient. Over-all analysis of the results showed that there were no significant differences between the two treatments with regard to efficacy and safety.