This, if it catches on, may help eliminate some of the nipple edema that
is so common in epidural moms!

Susan


Effect of fluid preload on maternal haemodynamics for low-dose epidural
analgesia in labour
International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia

L. Hawthorne, A. Slaymaker, J. Bamber, M. Dresner

p 312-315, Volume 10, Number 4, October 2001

Abstract


We prospectively studied 30 women in labour who requested epidural
analgesia. They were randomly allocated into two groups; one received a
preload of 7 mL/kg normal saline and the other no preload. All patients
had
a standard epidural solution consisting of 0.1% bupivacaine 20 mL
containing
fentanyl 2 [mu]g/mL. Mean arterial blood pressure and cardiac index were

measured serially for 20 min after epidural drug administration. Cardiac

index was measured using transthoracic electrical bioimpedance (BOMED).
Power calculation showed that a sample size of 30 had 80% power to
detect a
difference of more than 20% in cardiac index using a two-sided test at a

significance level of <0.05. No significant changes in cardiac index or
mean
arterial pressure occurred at any time in either group. These results
suggest that routine fluid preloading is not necessary for 0.1%
bupivacaine
20 mL with fentanyl 2 [mu]g/mL as epidural bolus in labour. Copyright
2001
Harcourt Publishers Ltd

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