International journal of obstetric anesthesia
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Int J Obstet Anesth · Apr 1997
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialPatient-controlled analgesia following caesarean section: a comparison of morphine and meptazinol.
Forty-eight women were investigated in a prospective double-blind study and randomised to receive intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with meptazinol or morphine following elective caesarean section. Women received PCA boluses of 1 mg morphine or 10 mg meptazinol with no background infusion. ⋯ There was no statistically significant difference in pain scores (P = 0.47) or the incidence of side-effects (nausea/vomiting P = 0.076, sedation P = 0.63) between the two drugs. Meptazinol is more expensive and offers no clinical advantages in this group of patients.
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Int J Obstet Anesth · Apr 1997
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialA comparison of catheter vs needle injection of local anesthetic for induction of epidural anesthesia for cesarean section.
It is generally believed that bolus injections of local anesthetic through an epidural needle produce a more rapid onset of blockade, but at the expense of an increased incidence and severity of hypotension, whereas intermittent injections through a catheter take longer to achieve adequate anesthesia but with a lower risk of hypotension. The present study investigated two commonly used needle and catheter epidural injection techniques for differences in speed of onset of surgical anesthesia and incidence and severity of hypotension. ⋯ No significant difference was found for the time to onset of surgical anesthesia. In the absence of benefits of needle injection, incremental catheter administration of local anesthetic with its multiple safety advantages is the technique of choice for induction of epidural anesthesia for cesarean section.
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Int J Obstet Anesth · Oct 1996
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialA comparison between epidural anaesthesia using alkalinized solution and spinal (combined spinal/epidural) anaesthesia for elective caesarean section.
In a double-blind investigation, 40 women undergoing elective lower segment caesarean section were randomly divided into two groups. Group I (n = 20) received spinal anaesthesia with 2.0 ml hyperbaric 0.5% bupivacaine using a single space combined spinal epidural technique. Group II (n = 20) received epidural anaesthesia with a local anaesthetic mixture consisting of 0.5% bupivacaine plain 10 ml and 2% lignocaine plain 10 ml to which was added 0.1 ml of adrenaline 1 in 1000 and 2 ml of 8.4% sodium bicarbonate. ⋯ There was no difference between the two groups in the quality of analgesia or the incidence of hypotension and nausea. The relatively rapid onset of the pH adjusted epidural solution may provide an attractive alternative to spinal anaesthesia. Moreover, this study underlines the important role of pH adjusted epidural solutions in parturients progressing to emergency caesarean section with epidural catheters previously inserted for labour analgesia.
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Int J Obstet Anesth · Jul 1996
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialThromboembolic deterrent stockings fail to prevent hypotension associated with spinal anaesthesia for elective caesarean section.
This study was carried out to determine whether the use of thrombo-embolic deterrent (TED) stockings, in combination with an intravenous crystalloid preload, would prevent hypotension following spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section. Fifty parturients undergoing elective caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia were randomly allocated into two groups. TED stockings were applied to the study group 1 h before spinal anaesthesia but none were applied to the control group. ⋯ Significant hypotension, defined as an absolute value of systolic arterial pressure (SAP) of less than 90 mmHg and a decrease of more than 20% from baseline SAP was treated with 3 mg bolus of ephedrine as required. The difference in SAO between the two groups was not statistically significant. In the control group, 80% of parturients required ephedrine as opposed to 56% in the TED group; a difference that was also not statistically significant.
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Int J Obstet Anesth · Jan 1996
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialKetorolac and spinal morphine for postcesarean analgesia.
This study was designed to compare spinal morphine (SM), ketorolac (K), and a combination of the two drugs with respect to analgesic efficacy and side effects in postcesarean patients. Forty-eight parturients having bupivacaine spinal anesthesia for cesarean delivery randomly received in a double-blind manner either: SM: 0.1 mg or SM: 0.2 mg (but no K); SM: 0.1 mg plus K 60 mg intravenously (i.v.) one hour after spinal injection, and 30 mg i.v. every 6 h for three doses or i.v. K dosed as previously described (but no SM). ⋯ Pruritus was common in all patients receiving SM whereas patients who received K had the lowest overall scores for severity of side effects. No serious complications occurred and all groups expressed similarly high satisfaction at the 24 h visit. We conclude that there is no advantage to combining SM and K, and that K provides satisfactory postcesarean analgesia with few side effects.