July 2017 · Volume 6 · Issue 7 Page 2836 International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology Taneja A et al. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2017 Jul;6(7):2836-2840 www.ijrcog.org pISSN 2320-1770 | eISSN 2320-1789 Original Research Article Fetomaternal outcome in high-risk parturients receiving epidural analgesia using fentanyl with ropivacaine versus iv tramadol: a comparative study Ashima Taneja 1 *, Kamaldeep Arora 2 , Isha Chopra 1 , Anju Grewal 3 , Sushree Samiksha Naik 4 , Geetika Sharma 1 INTRODUCTION Pain during labour is one of the worst experiences in the life of a woman, and its relief is an important issue. 1 Most women request for some forms of analgesia (pharmacological/non-pharmacological) to get rid of this excruciating pain. Few women also opt for caesarean section to avoid the bad experience of painful labour and/or episiotomy. Painful labour also reduces utero- placental blood flow. 1 To counter all these, effective analgesia is needed to eliminate/attenuate pain in labour. 2 Various pain-relieving methods are available since long time that include: systemic administration of medications, inhalational medications, transcutaneous nerve stimulation (TENS), neuro-axial blockade, and epidural analgesia. Of them, epidural analgesia is the most accepted method as it has been found to be both safe (both for the mother and the neonate), and effective. 3-6 However, there is some doubt regarding its effect on the duration of labour (some think that it may increase the ABSTRACT Background: Labour analgesia has been recommended but sufficient data on use of labour epidural analgesia with ropivacaine and fentanyl combination during labour is not available. Methods: A comparative study was conducted on 40 high risk labouring partuirents, randomly allocated to group A (iv tramadol) and group B (epidural analgesia with ropivacaine plus fentanyl). Assessments were done for fetal heart rate abnormality, mode of delivery, duration of labour, and Apgar score. The VAS score, patient satisfaction score, and complications were recorded. Results: Group A had more number of instrumental deliveries compared to group B, the later had higher number of caesarean sections. No difference was observed in vaginal deliveries in both the groups. Pain relief was significant in patients of epidural group. The neonatal outcome was same in both the groups. Significant number of patients had a higher degree of satisfaction score in group B compared to group A. Conclusions: Tramadol and epidural analgesia in labour are safe and effective. Patient satisfaction is significantly higher in epidural group as compared to the tramadol group. Keywords: Epidural analgesia, Labour, Outcome, Tramadol, Vaginal delivery DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20172611 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India 2 Department of Pediatrics, Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India 3 Department of Anaesthesia, Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India 4 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India Received: 24 May 2017 Accepted: 07 June 2017 *Correspondence: Dr. Ashima Taneja, E-mail: kauraashima@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.