Medical Uses
Morphine is primarily used to treat both acute and chronic severe pain. It is also used for pain due to myocardial infarction and for labor pains. There are however concerns that morphine may increase mortality in the setting of non ST elevation myocardial infarction. Morphine has also traditionally been used in the treatment of the acute pulmonary edema. A 2006 review however found little evidence to support this practice. Immediate release morphine is beneficial in reducing the symptom of shortness of breath due to both cancer and non-cancer causes. Its duration of analgesia is about 3–4 hours when administered via the intravenous, subcutaneous, or intramuscular route and 3–6 hours when given by mouth. Morphine is also used in slow release formulations for opiate substitution therapy (OST) in Austria, Bulgaria, and Slovenia, for addicts who cannot tolerate the side effects of using either methadone or buprenorphine, or for addicts who are "not held" by buprenorphine or methadone. It is used for OST in many parts of Europe although on a limited basis.
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