Academic Editor: Takatoshi Kasai
Intravenous morphine is a controversial treatment for acute
heart failure (AHF). This study aimed to evaluate and compare the efficacy of
intravenous morphine treatment vs. no morphine treatment in AHF
patients. Relevant research conducted before June 2020 was retrieved from
electronic databases. One unpublished study of our own was also included. Studies
were eligible for inclusion if they compared AHF patients treated with
intravenous morphine and patients who did not receive morphine. This
meta-analysis included three propensity-matched cohorts and two
retrospective analyses, involving a total of 149,967 patients
(intravenous-morphine group, n = 22,072; no-morphine group, n = 127,895).
There was a non-significant increase in the in-hospital
mortality in the morphine group (combined odds ratio [OR] =
2.14, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.88–5.23, p = 0.095,
I