Morphine may reduce risk of PTSD

The use of morphine may reduce the risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military personnel injured in combat, an observational study has found. Those who received the drug during resuscitation or trauma care were about half as likely to later develop PTSD (OR 0.47, P<0.001), according to the study of almost 700 injured US war veterans. "Our findings suggest that the use of morphine after serious injury may be a first-line defense against the development of PTSD," the US researchers wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine. The third of veterans who developed PTSD were less likely to have been administered morphine shortly after their injury (60% versus 76%). The use of morphine was associated with a significantly lower risk of PTSD (ORs ranging 0.48 to 0.66, P<0.05 for all) in models adjusting for several factors, including severity and mechanism of injury, need for amputation, resuscitation, and the presence of mild traumatic brain injury. The dose of morphine had no effect on this relationship, the study authors noted. The findings suggest a potential for prophylactic use of rapid pain reduction among injured, traumatic persons in both military and civilian acute care settings, an accompanying editorial concluded. New Engl J med 2010; 362:110-117  ...