Role of sublingual administration of tablet buprenorphine hydrochloride on relief of labour pain.

ABSTRACT

Tablet buprenorphine hydrochloride when administered to 34 primigravida women sublingually in a dose of 6 micrograms/kg body weight during the first stage of labour, the analgesic action started 30 minutes after administration of drug and the analgesic action increased gradually and reached its peak level 3 hours after administration of drug. Analgesic action continued throughout the first stage of labour when the duration after administration of drug was 9 hours. In one case maximum analgesic action did not persist after 9 hours. The average time of delivery was 5.88 hours having cervical dilatation of 3.1 (+/- 0.13) cm and the progress of labour was not delayed by the drug. There was no cardiorespiratory depression of the subjects. None complained of nausea or vomiting. There was no change in foetal heart rate and Apgar scoring of neonates revealed the average value of 9.71 at 1 minute and 9.94 at 5 minutes.