Patient-controlled intravenous analgesia with remifentanil in nulliparous subjects in labor

Objective: in this study we controlled the efficiency and safety of using remifentanil combined with two different supplementary background infusions for labor analgesia in nulliparous patients. Research design and methods: 60 subjects were allocated to two groups. After programming the patient-controlled analgesia device to deliver a fixed load and demand doses of intravenous remifentanil for all subjects, group r (n = 30) received a background infusion of remifentanil 0.1 mu g/kg/min and group R (n = 30) received a supplementary infusion of remifentanil 0.15 mu g/kg/min. Visual analogue scale for analgesia, hemodynamic parameters, sedation scales and fetal heart rates were recorded at the 5th, 10th, 20th and 30th min of the study and measurements continued every 15 min during 90 min of labor and delivery. Side effects, Apgar and satisfaction scores were obtained for every subject. Results: visual analogue scale scores of group R were significantly lower than those of group r throughout labor and delivery (p < 0.05). Hemodynamic parameters and fetal heart rates of the two groups were not different (p > 0.05). Most subjects were awake and only nausea was obtained (p > 0.05). The increase in the Apgar and satisfaction scores was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusion: it was determined that remifentanil with a 15-mu g demand dose and 0.15 mu g/kg/min supplementary continuous infusion is an effective choice for patient-controlled analgesia during labor in nulliparous subjects.