Papers of the Week

Effective analgesia during delivery can not only decrease pain, but also have a significant function in ensuring the safety of baby and mother. Sufentanil is generally used opioid with ropivacaine in epidural anesthesia in labor pain management; however it can cause some adverse reaction. Dexmedetomidine is an a2-adrenoceptor agonist with high selectivity. It possesses opioid-sparing and analgesic effects and it is suitable for the long-term and short-term intraoperative sedation. The purpose of this present study is to compare the analgesic effect of ropivacaine with dexmedetomidine against ropivacaine with sufentanyl in epidural labor.