Effectiveness of Spinal Analgesia for Labor Pain Compared with Epidural Analgesia.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare the analgesic effect of single-dose spinal versus epidural analgesia for labor pain to verify if applying a single dose spinal analgesia is an efficient technique for labor pain management as an alternative for epidural analgesia. METHODS: A total of 128 women in the active phase of labor were randomly allocated into two groups of spinal analgesia (n = 64) and epidural analgesia (n = 64). The latter received a bolus dose of 16 mL of 0.125% bupivacaine and 50 µg fentanyl and repeated 5 - 10 mL of bolus dose. The former received 2.5 mg hyperbaric bupivacaine plus 50µg fentanyl. Pain intensity was measured using the visual analog scale (VAS). The duration of analgesia, mode of delivery, the duration of labor, side effects, and maternal satisfaction were also compared. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the rate of cesarean section, duration of labor, postpartum hemorrhage, and the frequency of the fetal heart deceleration until 30 min after analgesia between the two groups. Measured pain after 30 (P = 0.0001) and 90 min (P = 0.01) was significantly lower in the spinal group than the epidural group. However, there was no significant difference between the spinal and epidural groups concerning the VAS scores at 150, 210, and 270 minutes. Maternal satisfaction was higher in the spinal group (P = 0.002). The mean duration of analgesia was longer in the spinal group than the epidural group (P = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: According to the findings, single-dose spinal analgesia, compared to epidural analgesia, is a safe, fast, and efficient technique for labor analgesia, which can be easily performed. In addition, it provides a high satisfaction level in the parturient.

A Comparative Study between Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation and Fentanyl to Relieve Shoulder Pain during Laparoscopic Gynecologic Surgery under Spinal Anesthesia: A Randomized Clinical Trail.

Background: Traditionally, laparoscopic procedures have been performed under general anesthesia. Spinal anesthesia is an effective alternative to general anesthesia. However, one of the intraoperative complications of performing laparoscopic surgery under spinal anesthesia is shoulder pain. This study aimed to compare the effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) with fentanyl on pain relief in patients who underwent gynecologic laparoscopy under spinal anesthesia. Methods: We conducted a prospective randomized clinical trial from May 2016 to March 2017. A sample of patients who underwent gynecological laparoscopy under spinal anesthesia was recruited. If they had shoulder pain, they randomly received either transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) or 50 mg of fentanyl. Pain intensity was measured using the single item visual analogue scale (VAS-10 cm) immediately before and 5, 10, 20, and 30 minutes after treatment. Also, the effect of higher doses of analgesia on pain relief was analyzed. Results: In all, 80 patients (40 patients in each group) were entered into the study. The mean pain intensity score was 9.02 ± 1.32 in the TENS group and 8.95 ± 1.33 in the fentanyl group at baseline (P = 0.80). Repeated measures analysis of variance indicated that there was no significant difference on overall pain scores between the two treatment groups adjusted for age, BMI, total analgesia used, and baseline pain score (F (1, 74) = 1.44, P = 0.23). The use of analgesic drugs in the TENS group was significantly higher than the fentanyl group (P = 0.01). In addition, we found that nine patients (22.5%) complained of nausea/vomiting in the TENS group compared to thirteen patients (32.5%) in the fentanyl group (P = 0.31). Conclusions: The findings indicated that TENS was not superior to fentanyl for pain relief in laparoscopic surgery. It seems that the correct use of TENS parameters might merit further investigation. This trial is registered with: IRCT2016031216765N3.

Dose ranging effects of pregabalin on pain in patients undergoing laparoscopic hysterectomy: A randomized, double blinded, placebo controlled, clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to investigate the preemptive analgesia efficacy of different concentrations (75, 150 and 300mg) of preemptive pregabalin for the postoperative pain management after laparoscopic hysterectomy. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. SETTING: The Gynecology and Obstetrics Center of Arash Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from October 2013 to November 2014. PATIENTS: A total of 96 women with American Association of Anesthesiologist (ASA) physical status I and II underwent elective laparoscopic hysterectomy surgery. Patients were then randomly assigned to four groups, of which groups 1-3 (treatment groups; n=20) received orally pregabalin concentrations of 75mg, 150mg, and 300mg, respectively, for a night before surgery, 30min before surgery and 6h after surgery, whereas group 4 (control group; n=22) received a matching dosage of placebo at the same scheme. MEASUREMENTS: Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores for postoperative pain at rest and on movement at first 24h after surgery were evaluated as primary outcome. Drug-related side effects were also evaluated as a secondary outcome. Somnolence was evaluated using Ramsay Sedation Scale, while nausea and vomiting were assessed using numeric scores. The data were analyzed using SPSS. MAIN RESULTS: Preemptive pregabalin in different concentrations provided better pain relief as compared with placebo. Post-hoc test indicated that there was a significant difference among four groups, indicating where the concentration was increased, the pain score decreased as an independent variable of time. The highest concentration of pregabalin (300mg) revealed higher sedation scores as compared with other groups. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrated preemptive administration of 75, 150, and 300mg pregabalin play an important role in reducing postoperative pain after laparoscopic hysterectomy. Comparison of different concentrations and side effects indicates oral administration of 150mg pregabalin is an effective and safe method for postoperative pain management after laparoscopic hysterectomy.