Frauenknecht J, et al. - In this meta-analysis of 23 randomised controlled trials with 1304 patients, researchers compared the analgesic impact of opioid-inclusive vs opioid-free anaesthesia on postoperative pain as well as on the rate of postoperative nausea and vomiting. They searched electronic databases Medline and PubMed for trials reporting pain outcomes and comparing any type of intra-operative opioid administration with placebo injection or no intra-operative opioid. They mainly looked for pain score at rest (analogue scale, 0–10) at two postoperative hours (primary outcome). According to strong evidence found via this study, no attenuation in the postoperative pain was observed in relation to the use of opioid-inclusive anaesthesia vs opioid-free anaesthesia, however, the former was associated with more postoperative nausea and vomiting. Based on these findings, reconsidering intra-operative opioid choices on a case-by-case basis was recommended to anaesthetists.