Obstetrics and gynecology
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To assess the effect of epidural analgesia on fetal temperature in labor, contrasting intrauterine with oral thermometry. ⋯ We estimate that 5% of fetuses reached a core temperature in excess of 40C in this study, all in association with epidural analgesia. We suggest that antipyretic measures be considered after 5 hours of epidural analgesia in ambient temperatures above 24C.
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Obstetrics and gynecology · Oct 1992
Historical ArticleThe introduction of nitrous oxide analgesia into obstetrics.
Nitrous oxide analgesia was introduced into obstetrics by a young Polish-Russian physician who manufactured the gas himself, mixed it with oxygen, humidified the mixture with water vapor, and devised a mouthpiece for self-administration. After assessing the results on himself, he evaluated the effects on pain relief, maternal emotion, and maternal and fetal heart rates, as well as on the frequency, duration, and strength of uterine contractions in 25 parturients. He recognized that, in contrast to chloroform, nitrous oxide did not alter uterine activity. He concluded that the advantages of nitrous oxide administration far outweighed its disadvantages.
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Obstetrics and gynecology · Oct 1992
Cost-benefit analysis of autologous blood donation in obstetrics.
To determine whether there are predictors of peripartum transfusion, other than placenta previa, that identify a population of pregnant women whose risk of transfusion is high enough to justify antepartum autologous blood donation. ⋯ In obstetric patients without placenta previa, the need for peripartum red-cell transfusion cannot be predicted with sufficient accuracy to justify the costs of antepartum autologous blood donation.