Remifentanil patient-controlled intravenous analgesia during labour: a retrospective observational study of 10 years' experience. 2019

H Murray, and P Hodgkinson, and D Hughes
Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, N. Ireland, UK.

Intravenous remifentanil patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) has been routinely available for labouring women in our unit since 2004, the regimen using a 40 µg bolus available two minutely on demand, continuous pulse oximetry and mandatory one-to-one care. We examined remifentanil use and compared, with the other analgesic options available in our unit, outcomes such as mode of delivery, Apgar scores, neonatal resuscitation and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. We retrospectively identified women who delivered in our unit between 2005 and 2014 and received remifentanil, diamorphine or epidural analgesia during labour. Data were drawn from the Northern Ireland Maternity System electronic database, which records birth details from all obstetric units in Northern Ireland. Additional data were identified from paper survey forms, completed by the midwife post delivery for all women who received remifentanil in our unit. Outcomes were compared between women who received remifentanil, diamorphine or an epidural technique for labour analgesia. Over the 10-year period, remifentanil was the most popular form of analgesia, being selected by 31.9% (8170/25617) women. Compared with women selecting diamorphine or epidural analgesia, those having remifentanil had similar rates of instrumental and operative delivery. Neonatal Apgar scores were also similar. Neonatal resuscitation or neonatal unit admission were not more likely in women choosing remifentanil PCA. We found remifentanil PCA to be neither less safe nor associated with poorer outcomes than other analgesic options offered in our unit, when used within our guidelines for more than a 10-year period.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007231 Infant, Newborn An infant during the first 28 days after birth. Neonate,Newborns,Infants, Newborn,Neonates,Newborn,Newborn Infant,Newborn Infants
D011247 Pregnancy The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH. Gestation,Pregnancies
D003932 Heroin A narcotic analgesic that may be habit-forming. It is a controlled substance (opium derivative) listed in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21 Parts 329.1, 1308.11 (1987). Sale is forbidden in the United States by Federal statute. (Merck Index, 11th ed) Diacetylmorphine,Diamorphine,Diacetylmorphine Hydrochloride,Diagesil,Diamorf,Heroin Hydrochloride,Min-I-Jet Morphine Sulphate,Hydrochloride, Diacetylmorphine,Hydrochloride, Heroin,Min I Jet Morphine Sulphate
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000077208 Remifentanil A piperidine-propionate derivative and opioid analgesic structurally related to FENTANYL. It functions as a short-acting MU OPIOID RECEPTOR agonist, and is used as an analgesic during induction or maintenance of general anesthesia, following surgery, during childbirth, and in mechanically ventilated patients under intensive care. 3-(4-Methoxycarbonyl-4-((1-oxopropyl)phenylamino)-1-piperidine)propanoic Acid Methyl Ester,GI 87084B,GI-87084B,GI87084B,Remifentanil Hydrochloride,Remifentanil Monohydrochloride,Ultiva
D000701 Analgesics, Opioid Compounds with activity like OPIATE ALKALOIDS, acting at OPIOID RECEPTORS. Properties include induction of ANALGESIA or NARCOSIS. Opioid,Opioid Analgesic,Opioid Analgesics,Opioids,Full Opioid Agonists,Opioid Full Agonists,Opioid Mixed Agonist-Antagonists,Opioid Partial Agonists,Partial Opioid Agonists,Agonist-Antagonists, Opioid Mixed,Agonists, Full Opioid,Agonists, Opioid Full,Agonists, Opioid Partial,Agonists, Partial Opioid,Analgesic, Opioid,Full Agonists, Opioid,Mixed Agonist-Antagonists, Opioid,Opioid Agonists, Full,Opioid Agonists, Partial,Opioid Mixed Agonist Antagonists,Partial Agonists, Opioid
D001034 Apgar Score A method, developed by Dr. Virginia Apgar, to evaluate a newborn's adjustment to extrauterine life. Five items - heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, reflex irritability, and color - are evaluated 60 seconds after birth and again five minutes later on a scale from 0-2, 0 being the lowest, 2 being normal. The five numbers are added for the Apgar score. A score of 0-3 represents severe distress, 4-7 indicates moderate distress, and a score of 7-10 predicts an absence of difficulty in adjusting to extrauterine life. Score, Apgar
D012189 Retrospective Studies Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons. Retrospective Study,Studies, Retrospective,Study, Retrospective
D015360 Analgesia, Epidural The relief of pain without loss of consciousness through the introduction of an analgesic agent into the epidural space of the vertebral canal. It is differentiated from ANESTHESIA, EPIDURAL which refers to the state of insensitivity to sensation. Epidural Analgesia

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