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A plain-language summary of the cited sources below. Informational only — not medical advice.
Morphine is a strong painkiller used when severe pain cannot be managed with other treatments. It works by attaching to specific receptors in the brain and spinal cord that process pain signals, essentially changing how your family member's body perceives and responds to pain. Because morphine has been used medically for a very long time, doctors compare other painkillers to it when judging their strength.
The medication is typically prescribed for severe pain that hasn't responded to other options, including pain from cancer or other chronic conditions that significantly affect daily life. It's also sometimes used for severe breathlessness. Morphine leaves the body fairly quickly, with most of a dose clearing through urine within 24 hours and an elimination half-life of around two to three hours.
Side effects your family member may experience include sedation, nausea and vomiting, constipation, sweating, and dizziness. More serious risks include respiratory depression, where breathing becomes dangerously slow or shallow. Respiratory arrest, shock, and cardiac arrest have occurred with morphine use. Other serious reactions include severe allergic responses and convulsions.
Morphine cannot be used in certain situations. It's not suitable for people with severe breathing problems, acute asthma, or other obstructive airway diseases. It's also contraindicated for people with certain heart conditions, severe liver or kidney dysfunction, head injuries, brain tumours, raised pressure in the brain or spinal fluid, paralytic ileus, or active seizure disorders. It must not be given to children under one year old or used alongside monoamine oxidase inhibitors within 14 days of that therapy. People with acute alcohol intoxication or delirium tremens also cannot take morphine.
Severe pain Clinical criteria: Patient must have had or would have inadequate pain management with maximum tolerated doses of non-opioid and other opioid analgesics; OR Patient must be unable to use non-opioid and other opioid analgesics due to contraindications or intolerance; OR The treatment must be part of pre-operative care; OR The treatment must be used as an analgesic adjunct in general anaesthesia.
Chronic Breathlessness Clinical criteria: Patient must be receiving palliative care.
“Morphine, like other opioids, acts as an agonist interacting with stereo-specific and saturable binding sites/receptors in the brain, spinal cord and other tissues.”
“Elimination half-life is approximately 1.5-2 hours in healthy subjects and 90% of the dose is recovered in urine within 24 hours.”
A plain-language summary of the cited sources below. Informational only — not medical advice.
Morphine is a natural opium alkaloid acting as an agonist at opioid receptors in the brain, spinal cord, and other tissues. It interacts predominantly with the μ–δ-opioid receptor heteromer, with μ-binding sites concentrated in the posterior amygdala, hypothalamus, thalamus, nucleus caudatus, putamen, certain cortical areas, and laminae I and II of the spinal cord. TGA-approved indications include short-term management of severe pain when other treatment options have failed, are contraindicated, not tolerated, or otherwise inappropriate; chronic severe disabling pain; cancer pain; and chronic breathlessness. As a Schedule 8 controlled drug, morphine carries a recognised standard of care for titration, monitoring, and documentation.
Elimination half-life is 1.5–3 hours in healthy subjects, with 90% of the dose recovered in urine within 24 hours. Common adverse effects include sedation, nausea and vomiting, constipation, sweating, and dizziness. Respiratory depression is the principal serious adverse effect; respiratory arrest, shock, and cardiac arrest have occurred following both oral and parenteral use. Other serious effects include circulatory depression, anaphylactic and anaphylactoid reactions, and convulsions. Contraindications are extensive: hypersensitivity to opioids or excipients; children under one year of age; paralytic ileus; concomitant monoamine oxidase inhibitors or within 14 days of such therapy; severe or acute respiratory disease; acute bronchial asthma or obstructive airway disease; cor pulmonale; cardiac arrhythmias; severe CNS depression; acute alcoholism; delirium tremens; head injuries; brain tumour; raised intracranial pressure; suspected surgical or acute abdomen; severe hepatic or renal dysfunction; incipient hepatic encephalopathy; and convulsive states including status epilepticus and tetanus.
Working under the parallel aged-care framework? Aged-care equivalent →
Chronic severe disabling pain Clinical criteria: Treatment Phase: Initial PBS treatment after 1 June 2020 where patient has been treated with opioids for less than 12 months The condition must require daily, continuous, long term opioid treatment, AND Patient must have cancer pain; OR Patient must have had or would have inadequate pain management with maximum tolerated doses of non-opioid or other opioid analgesics; OR Patient must be unable to use non-opioid or other opioid analgesics due to contraindications or intolerance. Authorities for increased maximum quantities and/or repeats under this restriction must only be considered for chronic severe disabling pain where the total duration of non-PBS and PBS opioid analgesic treatment is less than 12 months. Authority requests extending treatment duration up to 1 month may be requested through the Online PBS Authorities system or by calling Services Australia. Authority requests extending treatment duration beyond 1 month may be requested through the Online PBS Authorities system or in writing and must not provide a treatment duration exceeding 3 months (quantity sufficient for up to 1 month treatment and sufficient repeats).
Severe disabling pain Clinical criteria: Patient must have had or would have inadequate pain management with maximum tolerated doses of non-opioid or other opioid analgesics; OR Patient must be unable to use non-opioid or other opioid analgesics due to contraindications or intolerance. Treatment criteria: Patient must be undergoing palliative care. Authority requests for treatment duration up to 1 month may be requested through the Online PBS Authorities system or by calling Services Australia. Authority requests extending treatment duration beyond 1 month may be requested through the Online PBS Authorities system or in writing and must not provide a treatment duration exceeding 3 months (quantity sufficient for up to 1 month treatment and sufficient repeats).
Cancer pain Clinical criteria: Treatment Phase: Initial PBS treatment after 1 June 2020 where patient has been treated with opioids for less than 12 months Patient must have cancer pain, AND Patient must have had or would have inadequate pain management with maximum tolerated doses of non-opioid and other opioid analgesics; OR Patient must be unable to use non-opioid and other opioid analgesics due to contraindications or intolerance. Authorities for increased maximum quantities and/or repeats under this restriction must only be considered for chronic severe disabling pain where the total duration of non-PBS and PBS opioid analgesic treatment is less than 12 months. Authority requests extending treatment duration up to 1 month may be requested through the Online PBS Authorities system or by calling Services Australia. Authority requests extending treatment duration beyond 1 month may be requested through the Online PBS Authorities system or in writing and must not provide a treatment duration exceeding 3 months (quantity sufficient for up to 1 month treatment and sufficient repeats).
Chronic severe pain Clinical criteria: Treatment Phase: Initial PBS treatment after 1 June 2020 where patient has been treated with opioids for less than 12 months The condition must require daily, continuous, long term opioid treatment, AND Patient must have cancer pain; OR Patient must have had or would have inadequate pain management with maximum tolerated doses of non-opioid or other opioid analgesics; OR Patient must be unable to use non-opioid or other opioid analgesics due to contraindications or intolerance. Authorities for increased maximum quantities and/or repeats under this restriction must only be considered for chronic severe disabling pain where the total duration of non-PBS and PBS opioid analgesic treatment is less than 12 months. Authority requests extending treatment duration up to 1 month may be requested through the Online PBS Authorities system or by calling Services Australia. Authority requests extending treatment duration beyond 1 month may be requested through the Online PBS Authorities system or in writing and must not provide a treatment duration exceeding 3 months (quantity sufficient for up to 1 month treatment and sufficient repeats).
Curated subset. The full adverse-effect list is in the TGA Product Information; click any citation above to open it.