title: Fluid loading to reduce abnormalities of fetal heart rate and maternal hypotension during epidural analgesia in labour.
abstract: Fetal heart rate (FHR) was recorded and maternal blood pressure measured in 104 patients in whom lumbar epidural analgesia was induced in labour. Fifty-one patients received an intravenous load of 11 of Hartmann's solution immediately before the epidural injection. This infusion significantly reduced the incidence of abnormalities of FHR from 34% to 12% and of maternal hypotension from 28% to 2%. We did not study mothers with pre-eclampsia and hypertension, but we conclude that there is a strong case for preloading all other mothers in whom lumbar epidural analgesia is induced in labour.
mesh_terms: D000767:Anesthesia, Epidural; D005260:Female; D005318:Fetal Heart / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007022:Hypotension / Q000628:therapy*; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D011247:Pregnancy