[Effects of fentanyl peridural analgesia in labor on fetal heart rate, uterine contraction and postnatal adaptation].

The opioid Fentanyl was used in a dosage of 0.15 mg via a peridural catheter for birth analgesia (PDA) in a high risk collective of 40 female patients. A prolonged analgesia with good acceptance could be achieved with low dosage. The advantages of the mobilisation could be fully used because of telemetric monitoring and missing influence of the sympathetic nerve and undisturbed motoric activity. If a caesarean section was necessary we continued the peridural analgesia using 0.5 percent Marcain. Postnatal assessment of the condition of the newborn was not disturbed. Short-term irregularities in CTG--a decrease of the rate of acceleration, a silent oscillation pattern--are interpreted in the sense of a sleeping pattern, without harmful influence on the fetus. At present PDA is the most effective method in birth analgesia. It represents a valuable contribution to the care in the field of psychomotoric preparation of patients to birth. Considering the contraindications PDA with Fentanyl can be recommended in obstetrics.