The Analgesic Effect of Sufentanil Combined with Ropivacaine 0.2% for Labor Analgesia: A Comparison of Three Sufentanil Doses

The combination of opioids with local anesthetics is commonly used for epidural labor analgesia. We examined whether increasing sufentanil in doses of 5, 10, and 15 &mgr;g prolonged the duration of labor analgesia produced by ropivacaine. One hundred healthy parturients in the first stage of labor who requested epidural analgesia were enrolled. Parturients were randomized to receive 12 mL ropivacaine 0.2% alone or with sufentanil 5 &mgr;g, sufentanil 10 &mgr;g, or sufentanil 15 &mgr; g. The duration of analgesia, pain score, degree of motor blockade (using a four-point Bromage scale), heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, and incidence of nausea and pruritus were recorded. The mean duration of epidural analgesia was 96 ± 32 min for patients without sufentanil, 134 ± 27 min for Group 5 (p < 0.01 versus control), 135 ± 33 min for Group 10 (p < 0.01 versus control), 130 ± 33 min for Group 15 (p < 0.01 versus control) without differences among sufentanil groups. Between 30 and 90 min, the sufentanil groups (5 &mgr;g, 10 &mgr;g, and 15 &mgr;g) had lower pain scores than the control group (p < 0.01 versus control) but there were no differences among the sufentanil groups. No patient in any group had a Bromage score more than 1. No significant difference was found for opioid-related side effects. We conclude that 5–10 or 15 &mgr;g sufentanil induced a similar prolongation of analgesia when combined with ropivacaine 0.2% for initiation of labor analgesia. Implications We studied the effect of adding one of three possible sufentanil doses to epidural ropivacaine 0.2% for labor analgesia. Adding sufentanil increased the duration of analgesia but there was no advantage in adding more than 5 &mgr;g of sufentanil.