Continuous epidural infusion of 0.0625% bupivacaine-0.0002% fentanyl during the second stage of labor

Abstract

A randomized, double-bind, placebo-controlled study was performed to evaluate the analgesic efficacy and influence of continuing an epidural infusion of 0.0625% bupivacaine-0.0002% fentanyl during the second stage of labor in nulliparous women. When the cervix was fully dilated, coded study solution was substituted for the known bupivacaine-fentanyl solution. The study solution for 29 patients was 0.0625% bupivacaine-0.0002% fentanyl; 34 patients received saline placebo. The two groups had similar pain scores during the first stage of labor. During the second stage, pain scores were significantly higher in the saline-placebo group at each 30-min interval between 60 and 150 min after the diagnosis of full cervical dilation. Similarly, there was a significant difference between the two groups in global assessment of analgesia quality during the second stage, but the difference occurred in those patients with a second-stage duration of ≥ 60 min. Among the women who delivered vaginally, eleven of 28 (39%) women in the bupivacaine-fentanyl group, versus five of 34 (15%) in the saline-placebo group, had surgical perineal anesthesia for vaginal delivery (P