Effects of postoperative analgesia on lactation of cesarean section

Objective To study the effect of different methods of postoperative analyesia on lactation in women after cesarean section.Methods Seventy-five patients were randomly divided into three groups with 25 cases each.The patient-controlled epidural analgesia(PCEA) was used for postoperative analgesia in group E,the patient-controlled intravenous analgesia(PCIA) in group I,and intramuscularly injection of pathididne as needed in group C.The plasm level of prolactin was measured with radioimmunoassay at 12 h,24 h and 48 h during analgesia.VAS score and lactation were recorded at the same time points.Results The VAS scores of group E and I were significantly lower than those of group C(P0.05).The plasma level of prolactin at 48 h during analgesia was significantly higher in group E and I than that in group C(P0.05).The lactation was earlier in group E and I than that in group C as well.Conclusion PCEA or PCIA provides better postoperative analgesia and earlier lactation than analgesia with pathidine injection in the patients after caesarean section.