[Peridural obstetrical analgesia using an electronic syringe].

The authors present a study of 20 cases of epidural obstetrical analgesia. A Bupivacaine-Fentanyl mixture was given by continuous flow to bring about this analgesia. After an initial injection of 10 ml (9 ml of 0.25% Bupivacaine and 0.05 mg Fentanyl), a mixture of 45 ml of 0.25% Bupivacaine and 0.25 mg Fentanyl was perfused into the epidural space using an electronic pump syringe, delivering at a rate of 5 ml/hr. The mean time of analgesia until the delivery is 4 h 40 mn and the women in labour received a mean of 31.14 ml of 0.25% Bupivacaine (77.85 mg) and 0.173 mg Fentanyl. It took only 5 1/2 minutes to set up this form of analgesia. Not a single patient had any pain the first stage of labour nor in the second stage, and 95% of them were able to push efficiently. There are no detectable changes in the haemodynamic parameters in either the mothers or the fetuses and no depression of maternal respiration was found. In each case the Apgar score was 10 after 5 minutes. In summary, the use of an electronic pump syringe to deliver a Bupivacaine-Fentanyl mixture in obstetrical labour is a great improvement in analgesia without any secondary effects in the mother and child.