Sanjot Ninave, Swati Agarwal
BACKGROUND To compare the effects of Clonidine (75 μg) added to Ropivacaine (0.125%) with Ropivacaine (0.125%) alone for epidural labour analgesia. MATERIALS AND METHODS After informed consent, 40 pregnant women in ASA I / II randomly underwent epidural labour analgesia using 10 ml of Ropivacaine 0.125% (R group) or 10 ml of Ropivacaine 0.125% plus 75 μg Clonidine (RC group). Pain intensity, level of sensory block, and duration of epidural analgesia were evaluated in the labouring mother. The newborns were evaluated using APGAR scores. RESULTS In RC group, the duration of analgesia was significantly prolonged as compared to R group and there was no difference in duration of labour, mode of delivery or foetal outcome. Patient satisfaction was better with clonidine added to ropivacaine. CONCLUSION The study demonstrates that addition of clonidine improves epidural analgesic effect along with ropivacaine.
