Comparison of morphine sulphate and codeine phosphate in children undergoing adenotonsillectomy

Summary We undertook a double‐blind study to evaluate equianalgesic doses of intramuscular morphine sulphate (0.15 mg??kg −1 ) and codeine phosphate (1.5 mg??kg −1 ) in 40 healthy children undergoing adenotonsillectomy. There were no significant differences in pain scores, analgesic requirements or sedation scores between the two groups over the following 24 h. More children vomited in the morphine group (60%) than the codeine group (30%) between one and six h after the procedure ( P <0.05). Codeine phosphate is associated with less postoperative vomiting than morphine sulphate while providing comparable postoperative analgesia for adenotonsillectomy.