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OBSTETRIC ANESTHESIA

Levobupivacaine-Sufentanil With or Without Epinephrine During Epidural Labor Analgesia

Filiep M. Soetens, MD^*, Maurits A. Soetens, MD^*, and Marcel P. Vercauteren, MD, PhD

From the *Department of Anesthesiology, Sint-Elisabeth Hospital, Turnhout, Belgium; and Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Marcel P. Vercauteren, MD, PhD, Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Antwerp, Wilrijkstraat 10, 2650 Edegem, Belgium. Address e-mail to marcel.vercauteren{at}uza.be.

In a prospective, randomized, double-blind study, we investigated whether epinephrine increased the efficacy of levobupivacaine and sufentanil during epidural labor analgesia. Seventy term parturients received an epidural injection of levobupivacaine 0.125% and sufentanil 0.75 µg/mL with or without 1:800,000 epinephrine. After an initial dose of 10 mL, a patient-controlled analgesia pump was started. Total and hourly drug consumption, pain scores using the visual analog scale, sensory and motor block, duration of labor, vital variables, maternal and neonatal outcome, and side effects were compared. If the parturients experienced insufficient pain relief during the study, even after a rescue dose of 10 mL, they were excluded from further study and received 10 mL of bupivacaine 0.125% and sufentanil 0.75 µg/mL with 1:800,000 epinephrine. Hourly drug consumption, rescue dosing, and pain scores at 15 min and 20 min were lower in the epinephrine group. The incidence of motor block and duration of the second stage of labor tended to be higher in the epinephrine group and were associated with lower Apgar scores at 1 and 5 min. These findings suggest that the addition of epinephrine intensifies the effects of epidural levobupivacaine and sufentanil but may cause more motor block.