Grief and ruminative thought after perinatal loss among Turkish women: one-year cohort study

Abstract BACKGROUND: Among women who have suffered loss of pregnancy, the level of grief decreases gradually. Age, mental health status and childlessness are the factors known to mostly affect women's levels of grief. OBJECTIVES: To assess the levels of grief among women who experienced perinatal loss and the changes in their ruminative thought styles over the first year after their loss. DESIGN AND SETTING: One-year follow-up study carried out in a university hospital in Turkey. METHODS: The study population included 70 women who experienced loss of pregnancy in the hospital. The sample size was calculated using G*Power V3.1. Data were collected at 48 hours, at the third month, at the sixth month and at one year after pregnancy loss, between June 2018 and June 2019. A personal information form, the Perinatal Grief Scale and the Ruminative Thought Style Questionnaire were used for data collection. RESULTS: The women's highest levels of grief and ruminative thought style were in the first 48 hours. Their tendency towards grief and ruminative thought styles decreased over the repeated measurements during the follow-up. Women aged 20-29 years had the highest levels of grief at the third month after perinatal loss. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing assessments regarding grief and ruminative thought style over the first 48 hours after perinatal loss should be integrated into nursing care for these women. Grief follow-up programs for these women can be developed through nursing research.

The effect of epinephrine for the treatment of spinal-hypotension: comparison with norepinephrine and phenylephrine, clinical trial / O efeito de epinefrina, norepinefrina e fenilefrina no tratamento da hipotensão pós-raquianestesia: estudo clínico comparativo

Abstract Background and objectives: Limited data are present on safety and efficiency of epinephrine for the prophylaxis and treatment of spinal-hypotension. This study was conducted to compare the effect of epinephrine with norepinephrine and phenylephrine on the treatment of spinal-hypotension and ephedrine requirement during cesarean delivery. Methods: One hundred and sixty parturients with uncomplicated pregnancies undergoing elective cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia were recruited. They were allocated randomly to receive norepinephrine 5 µg.mL−1 (n = 40), epinephrine 5 µg.mL−1 (n = 40), phenylephrine 100 µg.mL−1 (n = 40) or 0.9% saline infusions (n = 40) immediately after induction of spinal anesthesia. Whenever systolic blood pressure drops to less than 80% of baseline, 5 mg of intravenous ephedrine was administered as rescue vasopressor. The incidence of hypotension, total number of hypotension episodes, the number of patients requiring ephedrine, the mean amount of ephedrine consumption and side effects were recorded. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in incidence of maternal hypotension between groups. The number of patients requiring ephedrine was significantly greater in group saline than in group phenylephrine (p< 0.001). However, it was similar between phenylephrine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine groups. The mean ephedrine consumption was significantly higher in group saline than in norepinephrine, epinephrine, phenylephrine groups (p= 0.001). Conclusion: There is no statistically significant difference in incidence of hypotension and ephedrine consumption during spinal anesthesia for cesarean delivery with the use of epinephrine when compared to norepinephrine or phenylephrine. Epinephrine can be considered an alternative agent for management of spinal hypotension.

Resumo Justificativa e objetivos: Existem dados limitados sobre segurança e eficiência da epinefrina na profilaxia e tratamento da hipotensão arterial associada à raquianestesia. O presente estudo foi realizado para comparar o efeito da epinefrina com norepinefrina e fenilefrina no tratamento da hipotensão após raquianestesia e necessidade de efedrina durante o parto cesáreo. Método: Foram recrutadas 160 parturientes com gestações não complicadas, submetidas a cesariana eletiva sob raquianestesia. Elas foram alocadas aleatoriamente para receber norepinefrina 5 µg.mL-1 (n = 40), epinefrina 5 µg.mL-1 (n = 40), fenilefrina 100 µg.mL-1 (n = 40) ou infusão de solução fisiológica NaCl a 0,9% (n = 40) imediatamente após a indução da raquianestesia. Sempre que houvesse redução da pressão arterial sistólica para valor inferior a 80% da linha de base, 5 mg de efedrina iv eram administrados como vasopressor de resgate. A incidência de hipotensão, o número total de episódios de hipotensão, o número de pacientes que necessitaram de efedrina, o consumo médio de efedrina e os efeitos colaterais foram registrados. Resultados: Não houve diferença estatisticamente significante na incidência de hipotensão materna entre os grupos. O número de pacientes que necessitaram de efedrina foi significantemente maior no grupo solução fisiológica do que no grupo fenilefrina (p< 0,001). No entanto, foi semelhante entre os grupos fenilefrina, norepinefrina e epinefrina. O consumo médio de efedrina foi significantemente maior no grupo solução fisiológica do que nos grupos norepinefrina, epinefrina e fenilefrina (p = 0,001). Conclusão: Não houve diferença estatisticamente significante na incidência de hipotensão e consumo de efedrina durante raquianestesia para parto cesáreo com uso de epinefrina quando comparada à norepinefrina ou fenilefrina. A epinefrina pode ser considerada como agente alternativo para o tratamento da hipotensão após raquianestesia.