Duramorph/astromorph for C/S

[babies_r_us]

We have a new group of anestesiologists that are starting to use Astromorph or duramorph for our C/S. Does anyone have a policy regarding care of these patients post-op?? We are looking for information regarding frequency of vitals, need for pulse ox, narcotic orders or other pain meds etc. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. I remember when we used to do this about 15 years ago and we did respirations every 15 minutes for about 12 hours!!! It seemed ridiculous. Thanks in advance. Sharon

[palesarah]

Some of our docs tried that pain control device that has real thin tubing that goes under the suture line, and the pt. would receive continous flow up pain meds...but that only lasted a few days...

One the OB practices that delivers at my hospital (the smaller practice with the higher C/S rate ) is using those marcaine drip balls still. Like Duramorph, it either works really well or not at all. They leak a lot, become displaced, fall out entirely....

[USA987, MSN, RN, NP]

One the OB practices that delivers at my hospital (the smaller practice with the higher C/S rate ) is using those marcaine drip balls still. Like Duramorph, it either works really well or not at all. They leak a lot, become displaced, fall out entirely....

Thanks Palesarah...seems like I worked on a Monday and they were all excited about using them...then I was off for two days and they weren't using them anymore!!!! I never did find out why.

[rnsam]

What are the doses of astromorph that your pts are receiving from anesthesia? Just curious. I think that our ladies get a small dose. We do not follow any extra post op orders for these ladies once out of our PACU.

Sam

[shay]

I didn't have duramorph for my c/s...I just had a freakin' nuclear epidural. My recovery was a breeze. I do like it when my pts. get duramorph, though. I think it helps. And most of them say they'd rather itch than hurt.

[Kim44]

I had duramorph after my section. The pain control was excellent. I didn't need any other pain meds post op. The itching was terrible, I wanted to rip my nose off my face, but the worst part was not knowing what was causing it. I thought I was allergic to the linen or something. I found out days after that it's a side effect.

If I'm ever blessed with another pregnancy, I hope they are still using duramorph. I'll take the itching as long as I'm not in pain.

[wonderbee, BSN, RN]

Just had a c/s pt. with duramorph. When I came on shift, she was around 8 hours post-op and resting comfortably. Got her out of bed around 3 hours later and she didn't require any further pain relief. No complaints about N&V or itching. She didn't get Narcan. A very nice result.

[kjc1959]

Our new anesthesioligist is also using Duramorph and we are looking for policy and procedure for this. I also am looking for an instruction sheet to give to the patient prior to the C/S. Any material would be so helpful