Premium
Effects of epidural block with lignocaine and lignocaine‐adrenaline on umbilical artery velocity wave ratios
Author(s) -
MARX GERTIE F.,
ELSTEIN I. DAVID,
SCHUSS MARVIN,
ANYAEGBUNAM AKOLISA,
FLEISCHER ADIEL
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1990.tb02522.x
Subject(s) - umbilical artery , medicine , fetus , anesthesia , lidocaine , epidural block , local anaesthetic , pregnancy , genetics , biology
Summary. Umbilical artery blood velocity A/B ratios were recorded in term fetuses once before and twice after the maternal epidural injection of either 8 ml of lignocaine plain (15 women) or lignocaine with adrenaline 1:2 (40 μg) (16 women). The administration of lignocaine plain led to decreases in the ratio of varying degrees in all fetuses regardless of the height of the initial A/B ratio. The injection of lignocaine with adrenaline produced identical results in fetuses with initially normal A/B ratios. In contrast, all six fetuses with initially high A/B ratios (above 2 . 90) who received the adrenaline‐containing anaesthetic reacted with a rise in the ratio, and two of these developed transient heart rate decelerations. Thus, if the initial resistance in umbilical blood flow is high, even the small epidural dose of 40 μg of adrenaline produces a further increase which may be associated with clinical implications.