Key result
Low-dose SR morphine shows potential for persistent COPD breathlessness despite lacking quantitative clinical data.
Why the study?
Persistent breathlessness in advanced COPD often remains uncontrolled despite optimized treatment and non-pharmacological approaches, and the impact of low-dose sustained-release morphine on meaningful functional gains is unclear.
Does regular, low-dose, sustained-release morphine improve routine physical activity in people with persistent breathlessness?
Does regular, low-dose, sustained-release morphine improve routine physical activity in people with persistent breathlessness?
This hypothesis-generating study suggests that regular, low-dose, sustained-release morphine may provide small functional gains reflected in increased energy expenditure for patients with persistent breathlessness.
No benefit of low-dose morphine or fentanyl over placebo for persistent dyspnoea in COPD; leaves open questions on opioid utility and requires larger confirmatory trials.
Chronic breathlessness, which may be better described as persistent breathlessness to optimise applicability to different languages, is a frequent cause of disability in COPD [1]. In many people with advanced COPD, optimising treatment for the underlying causes of breathlessness and employing non-pharmacological approaches does not achieve symptom control [2]. Some people with persistent breathlessness may benefit from regular, low-dose, sustained-release (SR) morphine [3]. Importantly, changes in unidimensional breathlessness measures do not always reflect the patient's perspective of benefit [4]. Optimal ways of measuring meaningful changes in persistent breathlessness are debated [5], but small functional gains are valued by patients [6]. These gains may be reflected in periods of more intense energy expenditure, allowing people to better maintain independence. Persistent breathlessness is a frequent cause of disability in COPD
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Ferreira et al. (2022) studied COPD with persistent breathlessness. regular, low-dose, sustained-release morphine was evaluated on routine physical activity. The abstract discusses the potential of regular, low-dose, sustained-release morphine for persistent breathlessness in COPD but reports no quantitative study results.
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