Morphine-Induced Fever: A Case Series

The most common cause of postoperative fever is infection. Other causes include cancer, iatrogenic causes, venous thromboembolism, secondary to prosthetic implants, and pyrexia of unknown origin. Here, we describe five cases of opioid-induced pyrexia. In all cases, an injection of morphine was given for postoperative analgesia and all those patients developed fever. All the possible causes of fever were excluded and then opioid was substituted with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents. Fever subsided in all the cases. Cessation of the offending drug led to the resolution of the fever in all five cases, and the patient required subsequent supportive care. However, adjunctive pharmacotherapy may also be needed in some patients.