SUBARACHNOID LABOR ANALGESIA - FENTANYL AND MORPHINE VERSUS SUFENTANIL AND MORPHINE

Background and Objectives. To compare the duration of pain relief and incidence of side effects using two subarachnoid administered drug com binations for labor analgesia: fentanyl 25 mug with morphine 0.25 mg o r sufentanil 10 mug with morphine 0.25 mg. Methods. Thirty healthy ter m primagravid patients with cervical dilation less-than-or-equal-to 5 cm consented to participate in this prospective, randomized, double-bl ind study. Patients received the assigned drug combination subarachnoi d with simultaneous epidural catheter placement using a double needle technique. The authors recorded blood pressure and patient's rated pai n, nausea, and pruritus using 10-cm visual analog scales at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and every 30 minutes until the patient requested addit ional analgesia. Results. The onset of analgesia was rapid in both gro ups. The mean duration of analgesia was similar; 114 +/- 55 minutes in the fentanyl and morphine group and 134 +/- 79 minutes in the sufenta nil and morphine group. The sufentanil and morphine group experienced more severe pruritus (P = .015). Conclusions. Both fentanyl and morphi ne and sufentanil and morphine provide adequate labor analgesia for ab out 2 hours. Patients who receive sufentanil experience more severe pr uritus.