Clinical effects of continuous spinal anesthesia with sufentanil for labor analgesia

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the clinical effects of continuous spinal anesthesia (CSA) with sufentanil for labor analgesia when compared with the effects of combined spinal-epidural analgesia (CSEA) and continuous epidural analgesia (CEA).Methods One hundred ASA Ⅰ or Ⅱ nulliparous patients who were at full term and who requested labor epidural analgesia,were randomly divided into 3 groups (n =40 each):continuous spinal analgesia group (group S),combined spinal-epidural analgesia group (group C) and continuous epidural analgesia group (group E).Labor analgesia was performed when the cervical dilation was 2-3 cm.In group S,the spinal catheter was placed at L3,4 interspace,and patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with sufentanil was performed after a loading dose of sufentarnil 8 μg.PCA solution contained sufentanil 100 μg in 100 ml of normal saline.The PCA pump was set up with a 2 ml bolus dose,a 10 min lockout interval (volume was limited to 14 ml/h) and background infusion at a rate of 2 ml/h.In group C,CSEA was performed at L2,3 interspace,the patients received intrathecal sufentanil 8 μg via a spinal needle,the PCA solution contained 0.1％ ropivacaine 200 mg and 0.5 μg/ml sufentanil 100 μg in 200 ml of normal saline.The CSEA pump was set up with a 6 ml bolus dose,a 10 min lockout interval (volume was limited to 40 ml/h) and background infusion at a rate of 6 ml/h.In group E,CEA was performed at L2,3 interspace and the method was the same as in group C.The systolic pressure,diastolic pressure,HR,fetal heart rate (FHR) and intensity of uterine contraction were recorded beforeanalgesia and 5,10,15,30,60 and 120 min after beginning of analgesia,when the cervical dilation was 7-8 cm,and when the uterine cervix dilated absolutely.The side effects were recorded.Bromage scale was assessed at 10 min of analgesia.Apgar scores of the neonates were recorded at 1,5 and 10 min after birth.The analgesic effect was evaluated 24 h after birth.Results In group S,the hemodynamic parameters,FHR and intensity of uterine contraction were within the normal range,the analgesic effect was excellent or good,Bromage scale was 0,two cases had post-dural puncture headache,the incidence of pruritus was 42 ％ and pruritus was mild,Apgar scores of the neonates were 9.1 ± 0.4,9.6 ± 0.4 and 10 at 1,5 and 10 min after birth,respectively,no cardiovascular events occurred.There was no significant difference in the parameters mentioned above between groups C and S and between groups E and S (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion CSA with sufentail is effective and suitable for labor analgesia and the efficacy is comparable with that of CSEA and CEA. Key words: Subarachnoid space; Sufentanil; Parturition; Analgesia