Articles: analgesia.
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Int J Obstet Anesth · Apr 1998
Epidural analgesia in labour using intermittent doses determined by midwives.
Since 1985 midwives have been responsible for choice of drug and timing of epidural top-up doses for women in labour at Flinders Medical Centre. The midwife may choose from one of three different prescribed preparations, namely: bupivacaine 12.5 mg plus pethidine 25 mg, bupivacaine 25 mg, and bupivacaine 50 mg - each made up in a volume of 10 ml. This prospective study examined the incidence of adverse effects and level of patient satisfaction with midwife-managed epidural analgesia. ⋯ Women reported a high level of satisfaction with the overall experience of childbirth, though this was lower for instrumental and caesarean deliveries than for vaginal deliveries. On the other hand, satisfaction with pain relief provided by the epidural was greater in women who had caesarean or instrumental deliveries. The most commonly cited benefits of epidurals were good pain relief (83%), ability to cope (74%), feeling relaxed (67%), and being aware (60%), while feeling numb (23%) and experiencing severe pain at delivery (17%) were the most common causes of dissatisfaction.
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This report details the course of a 77-year-old patient suffering mild pain from operated tongue cancer and excruciating, intractable pain from thoracic (T6-T8) post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), The mouth pain was treated with nonopioid analgesics, as the patient had personal objections to opioid treatment. All the components of the pain from his PHN (continuous burning pain, intermittent lancinating stabbing pain, and tactile allodynia) were successfully treated with an Intrathecal Infusion of buprenorphine (0.03 mg/ml) and bupivacaine (4.75 mg/ml) administered via an externalized intrathecal catheter with the tip located at T9-T10 intervertebral disc. The treatment started three months after the appearance of the herpetic eruption and lasted 294 days until the patient died of malnutrition and the progression of his tongue cancer. ⋯ The patient could ambulate without support while on 90-100 mg/day of intrathecal bupivacaine. During a series of high-pressure oxygen treatments in a pressure chamber to treat an infection at the site of his tumor, the intrathecal infusion was interrupted. Thus, repeated observation of the intervals of severe pain and of analgesia were possible.
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Int J Obstet Anesth · Apr 1998
The use of remifentanil infusion to facilitate epidural catheter placement in a parturient: a case report with pharmacokinetic simulations.
We present a case in which remifentanil infusion was used to provide analgesia during epidural catheter placement in a parturient who was experiencing great difficulty staying motionless because of extremely painful uterine contractions. Remifentanil may provide certain advantages in this setting, including improved analgesia during the procedure, briefer residual maternal and fetal (or newborn) drug effects after the procedure, and greater technical ease of catheter placement because of decreased movement induced by pain. Pharmacokinetic simulation of the dose administered suggests that analgesic effect-site concentrations can be rapidly produced, and that these concentrations decline rapidly to clinically insignificant levels after the infusion.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Patient-controlled versus staff-controlled analgesia with pethidine after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.
Patients treated by allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (aBMT) suffer prolonged oropharyngeal mucositis pain. The aim of this study was to prospectively compare patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with an established regimen of staff-controlled analgesia using pethidine (meperidine). Twenty patients undergoing aBMT for haematologic neoplasias or malignant lymphomas randomly received pethidine intravenously either continuously plus supplemental bolus doses on request through the transplant unit staff or by PCA. ⋯ This observation is discussed as a possible Hawthorne effect. Previous studies using morphine demonstrated that PCA diminishes opioid requirement compared to continuous or staff-controlled application in bone marrow recipients. In contrast to these studies, PCA additionally improved pain relief in the present investigation.
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This is a retrospective record of the analgesic management during labour of 16 patients with spina bifida seen at Leicester Royal Infirmary Maternity Hospital between March 1994 and February 1996. The information highlights the potential difficulties in providing epidural analgesia for this patient group, and demonstrates how an antenatal pre-anaesthetic clinic can help to optimize pain management by providing the opportunity to formulate a realistic analgesic plan, which can be documented in the notes.