Across developing countries, a short supply of morphine limits doctors’ options for treating severe pain. A new study suggests a combination of nalbuphine and ketamine—which are more plentiful in low-income countries—could be used in combination to treat pain when morphine is unavailable.
In a study of women undergoing elective, moderate to major gynecologic procedures in Pakistan, pain scores after one hour in the recovery room of patients treated with morphine were a mean of