OBJECTIVE: Opiates use, mainly in the treatment of acute intense pain (post-surgical patients) and chronic pain in oncologic patients has been usually underestimated in general clinical practice. This paper has the objective to assess the pattern of opiates use (Meperidin and Morphine), that is being used in Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). MATERIAL AND METHOD: Medical teams prescriptions were analyzed using the following parameters: pattern of use, dose, interval and the use of concomitant analgesics. 1,107 prescriptions were analyzed, related to 445 inpatients, in the period from May to July of 1993. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Only 6.5% of all prescriptions were considered correct. The pattern if necessary was responsible for 74% of all prescriptions. CONCLUSIONS: Pain, either acute or chronic, is not being adequately managed in our hospital.
Pain; Opiates; Meperidin; Morphine
