The Addition of Bupivacaine to Intrathecal Sufentanil for Labor Analgesia

Abstract
We designed a prospective, randomized, double-blind study to evaluate the efficacy of the combination of intrathecal sufentanil with a low dose of local anesthetic in an attempt to prolong analgesia in labor. Fifty-two patients received one of the following intrathecal study solutions: 2.5 mg of bupivacaine; 10 micro gram of sufentanil; or 2.5 mg of bupivacaine plus 10 micro gram of sufentanil. The mean duration of analgesia (min +/- SD) was significantly different among all three groups: 70 +/- 34 min for bupivacaine, 114 +/- 26 min for sufentanil, and 148 +/- 27 min for bupivacaine-sufentanil (P (Anesth Analg 1995;81:305-9)