Introduction:

Morphine is an alkaloid obtained from opium. Its knowledge and applications are unknown in daily medical practice. The inefficient use of analgesics causes pain to be refractory. Among doctors there are reluctance to use opioids such as morphine for several myths that we must deny.

Objectives:

To evaluate the knowledge of doctors of various specialties at INCAN (National Cancer Institute) and HRE (Regional Hospital of Encarnación) about morphine, as its forms of presentation, indications, contraindications and price in the free market of Paraguay.

Materials and methods:

Descriptive cross-sectional study, data were collected through a self-administered anonymous survey. The number was 41, between INCAN and HRE doctors. The Chi2 statistical test was used for statistical analysis. SPSS 20 was used.

Results:

46.3% were INCAN doctors, 53.7% were HRE doctors. Mean age was 30.17 years SD ± 5.56. The statistical analysis with Chi2 crossing center variables and number of correct answers of the members was not significant. The results regarding doses, indications and side effects were negative for both entities, reinforcing a low level of knowledge about the generalities. The vast majority of doctors report that its use causes addictions and respiratory depression.

Conclusion:

It is shown that there is ignorance about the use of morphine that makes it impossible to properly treat pain due to myths and fear of side effects.

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