Safety and effectiveness of butorphanol in epidural labor analgesia:A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND Epidural analgesia is the most effective analgesic method during labor.Butorphanol administered epidurally has been shown to be a successful analgesic method during labor.However,no comprehensive study has examined the safety and efficacy of using butorphanol as an epidural analgesic during labor.AIM To assess butorphanol's safety and efficacy for epidural labor analgesia.METHODS The PubMed,Cochrane Library,EMBASE,Web of Science,China National Knowledge Infrastructure,and Google Scholar databases will be searched from inception.Other types of literature,such as conference abstracts and references to pertinent reviews,will also be reviewed.We will include randomized controlled trials comparing butorphanol with other opioids combined with local anesthetics for epidural analgesia during labor.There will be no language restrictions.The primary outcomes will include the visual analog scale score for the first stage of labor,fetal effects,and Apgar score.Two independent reviewers will evaluate the full texts,extract data,and assess the risk of bias.Publication bias will be evaluated using Egger's or Begg's tests as well as visual analysis of a funnel plot,and heterogeneity will be evaluated using the Cochran Q test,P values,and I2 values.Meta-analysis,subgroup analysis,and sensitivity analysis will be performed using RevMan software version 5.4.This protocol was developed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses(PRISMA)Protocols statement,and the PRISMA statement will be used for the systematic review.RESULTS This study provides reliable information regarding the safety and efficacy of using butorphanol as an epidural analgesic during labor.CONCLUSION To support clinical practice and development,this study provides evidence-based findings regarding the safety and efficacy of using butorphanol as an epidural analgesic during labor.

Urgent Need of Continuing Medical Education:The Key for Patient Awareness of Labor Epidural Analgesia-A Survey of Chinese Perinatal Care Providers

Objective:This survey was designed to understand the misconceptions about labor epidurals.Methods:This voluntary and anonymous online survey on wenjuan.com was conducted from September 1st,2015 to January 1st,2016 via mainly WeChat groups dedicated to perinatal healthcare providers in China.The questionnaire included items inquiring the knowledge and opinions about labor epidural analgesia related to maternal complications,baby safety,and effect on laboring.Incomplete surveys were excluded from the data analysis.The data was presented as percentages and a Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test,as appreciate,was used to quantitatively compare the results.Results:A total of 1412 respondents completed surveys with 42.9%(606/1412)of them being anesthesiologists,35.1%(495/1412)being obstetricians,11.8%(167/1412)being midwives,3.7%(52/1412)being labor and delivery nurses,and 6.5%(92/1412)being hospital administrators and unspecified.The study revealed a lack of knowledge in labor pain control.Although 82.4%(1164/1412)of respondents were familiar with labor epidural analgesia,8.9%(126/1412)did not know how it works,and 1.1%(15/1412)never heard it in a multiple-choice question.The three main groups(anesthesiologists,obstetricians,and midwives/labor and delivery nurses)were chosen for comparisons.Opinions among these three groups concerning five questions in the three main concerns were evaluated using a statistical significance of P<0.05.Conclusion:The results in our survey indicated an urgent need of continuing medical education to multidisciplinary specialties to improve evidence-based medical practices as these misconceptions have existed for over 10 years in the medical professionals.Lack of public awareness fueled by misconceptions related to labor epidural analgesia may be associated with a lack of professional knowledge.Correct knowledge in professionals needs to be disseminated to the public in order to dispel possible misconceptions and rumors about labor epidural analgesia.This would not only enhance patient understanding of their care but also improve maternal,fetal,and neonatal outcomes.

Effect of epidural analgesia with 0.075% ropivacaine versus 0.1% ropivacaine on the maternal temperature during labor： a randomized controlled study

Background A wealth of evidence has indicated that labor epidural analgesia is associated with an increased risk of hyperthermia and overt clinical fever. Recently, evidence is emerging that the epidural analgesia-induced fever is associated with the types of the epidural analgesia and the variations in the epidural analgesia will affect the incidence of fever. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of epidural analgesia with 0.075% or 0.1% ropivacaine on the maternal temperature during labor. Methods Two hundred healthy term nulliparas were randomly assigned to receive epidural analgesia with either 0.1% ropivacaine or 0.075% ropivacaine. Epidural analgesia was initiated with 10 ml increment of the randomized solution and 0.5 IJg/ml sufentanyl after a negative test dose of 5 ml of 1.5% lidocaine, and maintained with 7 ml bolus doses of the abovementioned mixed analgesics every 30 minutes by the patient-controlled epidural analgesia. The measurements included the maternal oral temperature, visual analog scale pain scores, labor events and neonatal outcomes. Results Epidural analgesia with 0.075% ropivacaine could significantly lower the mean maternal temperature at 4 hours after the initiation of analgesia and the oxytocin administration during labor compared with the one with 0.1% ropivacaine. Moreover, 0.075% ropivacaine treatment could provide satisfactory pain relief during labor and had no significant adverse effects on the labor events and neonatal outcomes. Conclusion Epidural analgesia with 0.075% ropivacaine may be a good choice for the epidural analgesia during labor.

Potential impact of epidural labor analgesia on the outcomes of neonates and children

This review summarizes recent evidences regarding the potential influences of epidural labor analgesia(ELA)on the outcomes of neonates and children.Terms and relevant words including“ELA,”“ELA and neonatal outcomes,”“ELA and children’s development,”and“ELA and children’s neurocognitive development”were used to search articles published in PubMed database up to October 2019.Original articles and reviews regarding potential influences of ELA on neonates and children were identified.Relevant references of the selected articles were also screened.The anesthetics used during ELA can be absorbed,enter the fetus,and produce neonatal depression;however,these effects are less severe than those during systematic opioid analgesia.The impact of anesthetic exposure during ELA on children’s neurodevelopment has not been fully studied,but would be mild if any.ELA increases the risk of intrapartum maternal fever;the latter may be harmful to neonatal outcomes.The use of ELA may increase birth injury by increasing instrumental delivery,although long-term adverse events are rare.On the other hand,ELA may reduce maternal depression and,thus,produce favorable effects on neurocognitive development in childhood;but evidences are still lacking in this aspect.ELA may produce both favorable and unfavorable effects on neonates and children.These effects should be discussed with parturient women before making decisions.The potential harmful effects should be carefully managed.The overall impacts of ELA on neonatal and children’s outcomes need to be studied further.