Comparisons of analgesic effect between patient controlled intravenous analgesia with remifentanil and epidural analgesia with ropivacaine/sufentanil during labour

Objective To compare the analgesic effect between patient controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) with remifentanil and patient controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) with ropivacaine/sufentanil during labour.Methods Eighty full term primigravidas with a single were equally randomized into two groups: PCIA group and PCEA group. PCIA group intravenously received 25 μg remifentanil as the loading dose,and then connected with the electronic intravenous analgesic pump. PCEA group epidurally received 10 ml of liquids mixed with 0.1% ropivacaine and 0.5 μg/ml sufentanil as the loading dose and then connected with the electronic epidural analgesic pump. Pain was evaluated by visual analogue scale (VAS) and motor blockade was assessed using modified Bromage score.Results VAS score in PCEA group was lower than in PCIA group in three hours after drug administration (P0.05).Conclusion In labour analgesia, the analgesia effect by patient controlled epidural analgesia with ropivacaine and sufentanil was more effective than patient controlled intravenous analgesia with remifentanil.