S. Mercadante et al., EFFECT OF CLONIDINE ON POSTPARTUM SHIVERING AFTER EPIDURAL ANALGESIA - A RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED, DOUBLE-BLIND-STUDY, Journal of pain and symptom management, 9(5), 1994, pp. 294-297
In obstetric patients treated with epidural analgesia during labor and
delivery, shivering is quite frequent due to stress, vasodilatation,
infusion of fluids, low ambient temperature, and the direct effect of
solution injected into the epidural space. Sixty obstetric patients wh
o developed shivering after receiving epidural analgesia for delivery
were randomly assigned to treatment with clonidine 0.150 mg IV (N = 20
), meperidine 50 mg IV (N = 20), or saline solution (N = 20). Drug adm
inistration was double blind The effect on shivering (graded as all or
none), drowsiness, heart rate, and systolic arterial pressure was eva
luated 5 min after the study drug was administered. Clonidine was as e
ffective as meperidine in controlling shivering and caused a greater r
eduction in heart rate. Drowsiness occurred after clonidine as well as
meperidine. Thus, clonidine proved to be effective in controlling shi
vering and adrenergic response after delivery using epidural analgesia
and produced an acceptable level of drowsiness.