The impact of epidural analgesia for acute pancreatitis on maternal and fetal outcome: a cohort study.

Abstract

The period for this cohort research was from January 2022 to September 2022. Fifty pregnant women with AP symptoms were enrolled in the study. Conservative medical management was done using intravenous (i.v.) analgesics, including fentanyl and tramadol. Fentanyl was infused i.v. at a rate of 1µg/kg every hour, while tramadol was bolused i.v. at 100mg/kg every 8h. Boluses of 10-15ml of 0.1% ropivacaine were injected into the L1-L2 interspace at 2-3-h intervals to provide high lumbar epidural analgesia. In this study, 10 patients were given an i.v. infusion of fentanyl, and 20 patients were given tramadol boluses. Epidural analgesia showed the most promising results decreasing the visual analog scale score from 9 to 2 in half of the patients. Most fetal complications were noticed in the tramadol group, including prematurity, respiratory distress, and babies requiring noninvasive ventilation. Patients with AP during pregnancy may benefit from a new technique for simultaneous analgesia during labor and cesarean section administered via a single catheter. When AP is detected and treated during pregnancy, the mother and child benefit from pain control and recovery.