Differences in systemic opioid use do not explain increased fever incidence in parturients receiving epidural analgesia.
BACKGROUND
It has been hypothesized that an increased incidence of fever in patients receiving epidural analgesia might result not from epidural per se, but rather from the antipyretic effect of opioids preferentially administered to women in the no-epidural group. If this were the case, then one would expect the incidence of fever in parturients who did not receive systemic opioids to be independent of whether they received epidural analgesia.


METHODS
Using a cohort study design, the authors evaluated the records of 1,233 nulliparous patients whose labor analgesia was managed with (1) no medication (N = 170); (2) 10 mg intravenous systemic nalbuphine plus 10 mg intramuscular every 3 to 4 h as required (N = 327); (3) epidural analgesia with continuous infusion of 0.125% bupivacaine with 2 microg/ml fentanyl (N = 278); or (4) patients who received both systemic nalbuphine and epidural analgesia (N = 458). Fever was diagnosed if the maximum temperature during labor exceeded 100.4 degrees F (38 degrees C).


RESULTS
The incidence of fever did not differ according to nalbuphine administration for women not receiving epidural analgesia (1% no nalbuphine, 0.3% with nalbuphine, P = 0.27) or for women receiving epidural analgesia (17% no nalbuphine, 17% with nalbuphine, P = 1.0). However, the incidence of fever differed significantly between patients who received no analgesia as compared to those who received epidural analgesia alone (1% vs. 17%, P = 10(-6)). Controlling for confounding did not alter these associations.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that an antipyretic effect of nalbuphine in patients who do not receive an epidural does not explain the greater incidence of fever observed in women who receive epidural analgesia for labor.
Department of Anesthesiology, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut 06030-2015, USA. gross@sun.uchc.edu
Jeffrey B
JB
Gross
Amy P
AP
Cohen
Janet M
JM
Lang
Fredric D
FD
Frigoletto
Ellice S
ES
Lieberman
D000328:Adult; D015360:Analgesia, Epidural / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016362:Analgesia, Obstetrical / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D016015:Logistic Models; D011247:Pregnancy
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid