• Shan-Wu Feng, Shi-Qin Xu, Li Ma, Cai-Juan Li, Xian Wang, Hong-Mei Yuan, Fu-Zhou Wang, Xiao-Feng Shen, and Zheng-Nian Ding.
• Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. E-mail. shanwufeng@163.com.
• Saudi Med J. 2014 Oct 1; 35 (10): 1237-42.

ObjectivesTo compare the effects of regular intermittent bolus versus continuous infusion for epidural labor analgesia on maternal temperature and serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) level.MethodsThis randomized trial was performed in Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China between October 2012 and February 2014. Either regular intermittent bolus (RIB, n=66) or continuous infusion (CI, n=66) was used for epidural labor analgesia. A bolus dose (10 ml of 0.08% ropivacaine + 0.4 ug·ml-1 sufentanil) was manually administrated once an hour in the RIB group, whereas the same solution was continuously infused at a constant rate of 10 ml·h-1 in the CI group. Maternal tympanic temperature and serum IL-6 level were measured hourly from baseline to one hour post partum. The incidences of fever (>/=38 degree celsius ) were calculated.ResultsThe incidence of maternal fever was similar between the 2 groups. There was a rising trend in mean temperature over time in both groups, but no statistical difference was detected between the groups at respective time points; maternal serum IL-6 showed similar changes.ConclusionCompared with continuous infusion, regular intermittent bolus presents with the same incidence of maternal fever for epidural labor analgesia. Interleukin-6 elevation could be involved in mean maternal temperature increase. 

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