Remifentanil patient controlled analgesia during labour is more effective and results in less remifentanil consumed than does continuous infusion.

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• M K Shen, Z F Wu, A B Zhu, L L He, X F Shen, J J Yang, and S W Feng.
• Department of Anaesthesiology, Wuxi Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, China.
• Anaesthesia. 2013 Mar 1;68(3):236-44.

AbstractThis trial aimed to compare the maternal and neonatal effects of remifentanil given by patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) or continuous infusion for labour analgesia. Patient controlled analgesia was administered using increasing stepwise boluses from 0.1 to 0.4 μg.kg(-1) (0.1 μg.kg(-1) increment, 2 min lockout, n = 30). Continuous infusion used rates from 0.05 to 0.2 μg.kg(-1) .min(-1) (0.05 μg.kg(-1) .min(-1) increment, n = 30). Dose increments were given on request. Women reported lowest pain scores (median (IQR [range]) of 3 (2-4 [2-5]) for PCA and 4 (3-5.25 [3-7]) for continuous infusion (p = 0.004) at 60 min after the beginning of analgesia. The mean (SD) remifentanil umbilical vein/maternal artery ratio in the PCA and infusion groups were 0.74 (0.45) vs 0.70 (0.52), respectively (p = 0.776). The mean (SD) umbilical artery/umbilical vein ratios were 0.31 (0.12) vs 0.26 (0.07), respectively (p = 0.088). Maternal and neonatal adverse reactions of remifentanil were similar between the two groups. The total remifentanil consumption (median (IQR [range]) during PCA administration was lower than continuous infusion, 1.34 (1.22-1.48 [0.89-1.69]) mg vs 1.49 (1.35-1.61 [1.12-1.70] mg; p = 0.011). The results suggest that remifentanil PCA provides better pain relief and similar placental transfer compared with continuous infusion.Anaesthesia © 2013 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

This article appears in the collections: Obstetrics and Is remifentanil for labour analgesia safe and effective?.

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