Background: Morphine consumption after a given surgical procedure can vary considerably. Studies show that single nucleotide polymorphism involving the nucleotide position 118 at exon 1 of the m-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) may play a role in mediating the effects of opioids. This study was performed to correlate the A118G polymorphism at OPRM1 with morphine consumption in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. Methods: Post-operative pain was relieved by patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). The analgesic effect was evaluated using a visual analogue scale. Side-effects, such as sedation, nausea and vomiting, and pruritus, were recorded systematically. The genotypes were determined by sequencing polymerase chain reactionamplified DNA. The differences in demographics and consumed morphine from the PCA device between the different genotypes were tested using one-way analysis of variance. The prevalence of side-effects from morphine and sex distribution were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: One hundred and forty-seven patients were included in the study. Twenty-seven patients who required rescue analgesia were excluded; these patients did not differ demographically or

Differences in hair count parameters were recognized between different ethnic groups. Parameters of hair density established in the Taiwanese population will provide clinicians with useful reference data for the evaluation of hair disorders in Asians.

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