Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: Epidural analgesia has been extensively used to provide pain relief in labor.The present study was conducted to evaluate efficacy of epidural bupivacaine and fentanyl for labour analgesia. Materials & Methods:74 pregnant women primigravida and multigravida of ASAgrade IIwere given first loading dose of 10ml 0.25% plain bupivacaine via epidural catheter followed by continuous epidural infusion of 0.0625% bupivacaine with 2.5 mcg/ml fentanyl @ 12ml/hour. Hemodynamics, mode of delivery, VAS and APGAR score were assessed. Results: There were 40 Primigravida and 34 Multigravida. Mode of delivery was vaginal in 54, vacuum cup assisted in 18 and caesarean section in 2 cases. The mean visual analogue score before drug was 5.48 and after drug was 2.14. Patientsatisfaction score was excellent in 32 patients, good in 42 and poor in 0. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). At 1 minute, APGAR score 7 was seen in 6, score 8 in 20, score 9 in 40 and score 10 in 8 patients. At 5 minutes, score 9 was seen in 14 and score 10 in 60 patients. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). Conclusion: Epidural labour analgesia with low dose bupivacaine (0.0625%) with fentanyl (2.5 mcg/ml), given through continuous infusion technique provides good pain relief to the parturient.