Intramuscular opioids for maternal pain relief in labour: a randomised controlled trial comparing pethidine with diamorphine

Objective To compare the pain relief and side effects of intramuscular peth idine with intramuscular diamorphine in labour. Design Double-blind randomised controlled trial. Setting The labour ward in a UK teaching hospital. Participants Sixty-nine nulliparous women and 64 multiparous women in labou r who requested narcotic analgesia and remained undelivered one hour after trial entry. Methods Nulliparous women were randomised to receive either 150 mg intramus cular pethidine or 7.5 mg intramuscular diamorphine. Multiparous women were randomised to receive either 100 mg intramuscular pethidine or 5 mg intram uscular diamorphine. All participants received the anti-emetic prochloroper azine at the same time as the trial drugs. Main outcome measures Maternal analgesia assessed by a visual analogue scor e and verbal scales of pain intensity and pain relief, maternal sedation an d vomiting, neonatal outcome assessed by Apgar scores and the need for resu scitation. Results More women allocated to receiving pethidine than to diamorphine rep orted slight or no pain relief at 60 minutes after administration of these drugs (P = 0.03). This trend was repeated in most of the other measures for maternal analgesia. There was no difference in maternal sedation, but the incidence of vomiting within 60 minutes was lower for women who received di amorphine (P = 0.02). Pethidine was associated with lower Apgar scores at 1 minute (P < 0.05). Conclusion Intramuscular diamorphine in labour appears to have some benefit s, compared with intramuscular pethidine, but the trial was small and furth er research, particularly into alternative opioids and long term effects on the infants is still needed.