Background
pain
RESPIRATORY DEPRESSION
Epidural analgesia (EA) has excellent clinical efficacy and is a preferred choice for pain relief during labor [Dexmedetomidine (DEX) is a highly selective agonist of α2-adrenergic receptors that possesses sedative, anxiolytic and analgesic effects with low placental transfer and low respiratory depression, and it does not affect foetal physiologic status [However, no data on the efficacy and safety of IND as an adjuvant for epidural labor analgesia are available. Our hypothesis was that pretreatment with a single low dose (0.5 μg/kg) of IND 15 min before an epidural puncture would improve labor analgesia with a faster onset and less procedural pain. We tested this hypothesis in a prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled study of nulliparous patients.