THE BENEFICIAL EFFECT OF DEXMEDETOMIDINE COMBINED WITH EPIDURAL-CONTROLLED ANALGESIA ON THE REDUCTION OF FEVER AND INFLAMMATION DURING LABOUR IN TERM-PREGNANT WOMEN

In this study, we investigated the impact of epidural-controlled analgesia and dexmedetomidine (Dex) epidural analgesia on fever and outcomes for the mother and infant in full-term pregnancies. A total of 605 first-term pregnant women were randomly divided into Group A (n = 300), Group B (n = 300), and Group C (n = 5). They were given 1 mu g/mL fentanyl + 0.1% ropivacaine (Group A), 1:0.5 mu g/mL Dex + 0.1% ropivacaine (Group B), and 2:1 mu g/mL Dex + 0.1% ropivacaine (Group C). Before epidural labour analgesia (T0), 10 min after analgesia (T1), 30 min after analgesia (T2), immediately after foetal delivery (T3), 10 min after foetal delivery (T4), Two hours after foetal delivery (T5), and 24 h after foetal delivery (T6), the mean arterial pressure, heart rate, foetal heart rate, pain visual analogue scale (VAS) score, sedation score, lower limb motor block degree, maternal satisfaction, sedation drug used, and fever were recorded. The findings indicate that Group B exhibited a reduction in the quantity of sedative drugs administered and added, as well as a decrease in mean arterial pressure at T3. The VAS score at T3 and T4 decreased, while the maternal satisfaction score increased. Furthermore, the fever rate and serum levels of IL-6 and CRP decreased at T4, T5, and T6 in Group B compared to Group A. There were no significant differences in maternal heart rate, foetal heart rate, Ramsay score, or Bromage score between Group A and Group B.