Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the patients in the two study groups.

	Drug group (n  = 123)	Saline group (n  = 136)
Median age	53	52.5
Age (years) range	15–94	17–93
Sex distribution (M:F (%))	54:69 (43.9:56.1)	65:71 (47.8:52.2)
Median dose of morphine (mg)	8	10
Mean (95% CI) reduction of pain score	4.1 (3.7 to 4.5)	4.0 (3.6 to 4.4)
Painful condition (n (%))
Limb injury	110 (89.4)	123 (90.4)
Trunk injury	10 (8.1)	12 (8.8)
Burns	3 (2.4)	1 (0.7)