Analgesic Effects, Birth Process, and Prognosis of Pregnant Women in Normal Labor by Epidural Analgesia Using Sufentanil in Combination with Ropivacaine: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Objective. The objective is to evaluate the analgesic, labor, and prognostic effects of patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) versus sufentanil in conjunction with ropivacaine in normal labor. Methods. Sixty pregnant women who had a normal delivery at our hospital between February 2019 and April 2021 were included. Pregnant women were arbitrarily assigned to a control group and a research group. Pregnant women in the control group received lidocaine analgesia and PCEA with sufentanil combined with ropivacaine in the research group. Satisfaction with care, fetal umbilical artery blood flow, VAS score, labor and bleeding, neonatal Apgar score and incidence of adverse events were analyzed. Results. First, we made a comparison of satisfactory performance of nursing care. The satisfaction rate of the research group was 100.00%, compared to 83.33% for the control group. Nursing satisfaction was higher in the research group, and the difference was statistically significant ( $P<0.05$ ). Following analgesia, PI, RI, and S/D values of umbilical artery blood flow were lower in the research group than those in the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant ( $P>0.05$ ). The VAS scores at 10 min, 20 min, and 30 min were found to be lower in the research group than in the control group after analgesia, and the difference was statistically significant ( $P<0.05$ ). Bleeding was significantly lower in the research group for all stages of labor, and the difference was statistically significant ( $P<0.05$ ). Apgar scores at 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes postpartum were greater in the research group than in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant ( $P<0.05$ ). As a final note, the incidence of pruritus, hypotension, respiratory depression, nausea, and vomiting was found to be lower in the research group than in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant ( $P<0.05$ ). Conclusion. PCEA with sufentanil coupled with ropivacaine was used to perform labor analgesia. With significant reduction in maternal pain and assurance of labor, ropivacaine combined with sufentanil epidural labor analgesia did not reduce fetal umbilical artery blood flow without extended labor. It could not affect the labor process or the safety of the fetus, which is safe for the mother and fetus.