Patient-controlled analgesia for labour using remifentanil: a feasibility study

Parenteral opioids for labor analgesia

Labor pain relief is an important aspect of women's health that has historically been neglected. Epidural analgesia is the only consistently effective method of labor pain relief and has recently undergone substantial improvements to address the concerns of both parturients and obstetric care providers. With increased physician awareness, these recent advances are becoming more widely accepted and routinely available for all laboring parturients. Unfortunately, an increasing number of women are presenting to maternity wards with an absolute contraindication to epidural labor analgesia. The present review will provide an outline of the recent developments in parenteral analgesic options which complement modern epidural analgesic techniques. Protocols for the initiation of "state-of-the-art" parenteral analgesic techniques are provided as a guide to facilitate effective, modern, parenteral labor analgesia.

Intrapartum care for women on full anticoagulation

Women requiring full anticoagulation in pregnancy and labour present their care providers with complex management problems, particularly during the peripartum period. Available guidelines often fail to address the practical issues of balancing the risks of recurrent thrombotic events and haemorrhage during labour. This is especially the case in women at high risk of recurrent thromboembolism, in whom the usually recommended temporary peripartum reduction in the level of anticoagulation may be considered unsafe. In order to achieve a satisfactory outcome without undue intervention, multidisciplinary management involving obstetricians, haematologists and anaesthetists is essential. Intrapartum care plans should be made during pregnancy to address the conduct of labour and delivery, anticoagulation, analgesia in labour and the management of any arising obstetric, anaesthetic or haematological complications. In the following we address the practical issues requiring particular attention, as well as management options, in fully anticoagulated patients using a clinical case for illustration.

Sevoflurane analgesia in obstetrics: a pilot study

Continuous and intermittent administration of inhalational anesthetics has been successfully employed for treating pain during labor. We conjectured that intermittent sevoflurane administration would be effective for pain relief during labor without side effects to the mother or fetus. Fifty parturients breathed a mixture of 2-3% sevoflurane, oxygen and air before each uterine contraction began. The patients assessed the quality of analgesia by using a visual analogue scale (0-10) before the administration of sevoflurane and after each uterine contraction. All parturients but one were satisfied, demonstrating a mean visual analogue score before and after sevoflurane administration of 8.7 +/- 1.1 and 3.3 +/- 1.5, respectively. Apgar scores at 1 and 5 min were 9 (range 5-9) and 10 (range 8-10), respectively. Our findings suggest that sevoflurane could be effective for the treatment of labor pain.

Newer techniques of labor analgesia

In maternity units in which central neuraxial techniques are frequently used, newer methods of epidural drug delivery (continuous infusion, patient-controlled) are well established and combined spinal-epidural analgesia is commonly used. Continuous spinal analgesia has reemerged as a useful approach after accidental dural puncture. Lumbar sympathetic block has been revisited and the safety of paracervical nerve block improved. The analgesic properties of systemic opioid in labor are poor, but PCIA at least has psychological benefits and allows rapid drug titration. PCIA is again under investigation because of the potent antinociceptive effects of the short-acting mu-opioid agonist, remifentanil. The premixing of nitrous oxide and a subanesthetic concentration of volatile anesthetic for patient-controlled administration has been tested under control of midwifery staff and without direct medical supervision.