Objective To explore the effect of nalbuphine mixed with ropivacaine on epidural labor analgesia.

Methods From October 2019 to February 2021, 104 cases of puerpera from Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University were selected. 104 parturients were randomly divided into two groups: nalbuphine group (N group, n=52) and ropivacaine group (L group, n=52).The L2-3 space was selected for epidural puncture, and the test dose was given after successful puncture and supine. In group N, a mixture of 10 mL of 0.1% ropivacaine + 0.3 mg/mL nalbuphine was injected epidural. After 30 min, patient-controlled epidural analgesia was performed with the same concentration mixture, with background dose of 6 mL/h, patient-controlled-analgesia (PCA) dose of 6 mL and locking time of 15 min. Except that no nalbuphine was used in group L, other drugs and analgesic procedures were the same as those in group N. The analgesic onset time, first PCA time, visual analogue scale (VAS) score, analgesic adverse reactions were recorded. After analgesia, the total drug consumption and Apgar score of newborn were recorded.

Results Compared with the first PCA time in group L (71.7±41.4) min, the first PCA time in group N (102.4±73.1) min was prolonged (P=0.013) and the onset time was shortened(21.6±7.9) min vs (17.2±8.6) min, P=0.009). The consumption per hour of ropivacaine in group N (10.4±3.6) mg was lower than that in group L(12.8±4.7) mg, (P=0.004). Compared with group L, the number of PCA compression (P=0.045) and effective compression (P=0.003) in group N decreased. The obstetric outcomes were similar between the two groups.

Conclusions 0.3 mg/mL nalbuphine mixed with ropivacaine could reduce the dosage of ropivacaine per unit time, provide satisfactory analgesic effect, and have few adverse reactions, so it may be an optional analgesic scheme for epidural labor analgesia.