Can morphine adversely affect the recovery of someone with a brain injury?

[Jason_B]

A family member suffered a smashed rib cage, bruising to the lungs and a head injury in a car accident.
He was in intensive care as he needed extra oxygen to the lungs. He was given an epidural feed to the spine and was given doses of morphine for the pain.
He was hallucinating, confused, forgetful and agitated.
Head scans revealed that there was a slight bleed to the front of the brain but it had stopped and there was only bruises and swelling left.
He is now in a normal ward as he no longer needs more oxygen and he has a better state of mind.
His ribs are still healing and he still complains of pain.

This is my concern:

Each time I have visited him since coming out of intensive care he is alert and normal but the nurses are still giving him shots of morphine when he complains of pain usually at night after visiting hours. He then wakes up in the middle of the night confused of his whereabouts.

Nurses state the confusion is beyond the morphine side-affects and more to do with the head injury but I believe that the morphine is causing him the confusion. Also concerned that if his brain does require healing, the morphine is hindering the process.

I am really concerned as I hear of patients going into mental hospitals in one state of mind but ending up worse off due to the medication they receive. This appears to me what is going on at the moment. He is wanting to leave and each time I see him, he is alert and completely normal (state of mind). For these reasons, I am tempted to discharge him myself and provide him with our own care.

Should I be concerned? Are the nurses wrong in stating that the confusion is nothing to do with morphine shots? Can morphine for his pain hinder the healing of the brain injury? Could there be permanent risks with the medication he is receiving?

[lomah]

i have several friends and family members that morphine adversely effects them.  my good friend went out of her mind (acting crazy) when they gave it to her.  her father is the very same way.  

my son (16) fell 30 ft. and had a tbi.  he also had other injuries.  they gave him morphine and i could tell it agitated him.  he had a very serious brain injury that resulted in learning every facet of life all over again, but the morphine was a bad combination with the brain injury.  

i asked for another pain killer to be given for a time to see if he faired better with it.  my father had a similar reaction to morphine.  if i were you, i would ask for a different pain killer to see if he is less confused.  i do want you to know with a brain injury there are times of greater clarity, but morphine can be a problem and to assess how serious you father's brain injury is you may need to wait until the morphine time is over or switch med.  hope that helps.

[bhups1]

Hi, morphine can hamper assessment of recovery from head injury as it makes person drowsy. Also morphine is responsible for causing cerebral vasodilatation. As such morphine does not affect healing nor can it induce some kind of permanent risk if low doses with constant monitoring are given.

If confusion is present most of the time during day, probably it is due to head injury.

[Marcus67]

That is incorrect. Studies show that morphine negatively impacts neurogenesis. Probably not good to be on with a brain injury other than if extreme pain is involved. Mindfulness training can work for less severe pain and had positive mental side effects. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4835638/