Effect of Levobupivacaine Infiltration on the Post Partum Perineal Pain in Episiotomy, in Primiparous Women After Instrumental Delivery

Summary

An episiotomy is an incision of the perineum to facilitate childbirth by natural means. Perineal pain are more frequent and intense if the incision of the perineum is important. In particular, simple vaginal or perineal tears are less painful than episiotomies in the first seven days postpartum, whereas at six weeks postpartum, there is no significant difference anymore.The patients are the most symptomatic in the immediate postnatal period, but the pain may persist up to 2 weeks after delivery in 20 to 25% of cases. These pains are often undervalued and may interfere with the mother-child bond in the absence of an effective treatment. Perineal pain are usually treated with painkillers, in particular non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs given orally or rectally and paracetamol. The scar infiltration is one of the components of a multimodal postoperative analgesia strategy. It consists in the simultaneous use of several drugs or analgesic techniques, acting on different pain components in order to improve the overall efficiency.The most used local anesthetics at present are bupivacaine, ropivacaine and levobupivacaine.Ropivacaine has a lesser vasodilatory effect than bupivacaine, resulting in longer persistence at the injection point and a blood resorption that is more spread. The systemic toxicity threshold is also higher. Levobupivacaine is the enantiomer of bupivacaine. It has vascular effects, and an intermediate systemic toxicity threshold intermediate between bupivacaine and ropivacaine. Lidocaine has a limited duration of action. Its use is interesting in complement infiltrations when a rapid onset of action is desired. So far, there is no data in the literature regarding the effect of levobupivacaine in episiotomies associated pain. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of local injections of levobupivacaine on episiotomies associated pain.

Timeline

Start

2016-07-14

Primary completion

2018-05-29

Completion

2018-05-29

Publications

• Background Vendittelli F, Gallot D. [What are the epidemiologic data in regard to episiotomy?]. J Gynecol Obstet Biol Reprod (Paris). 2006 Feb;35(1 Suppl):1S12-1S23. French.
• Background de Tayrac R, Panel L, Masson G, Mares P. [Episiotomy and prevention of perineal and pelvic floor injuries]. J Gynecol Obstet Biol Reprod (Paris). 2006 Feb;35(1 Suppl):1S24-1S31. French.
• Background College National de Gynecolegues et Obstetriciens Francais. [Text of the guideline for episiotomy]. J Gynecol Obstet Biol Reprod (Paris). 2006 Feb;35(1 Suppl):1S77-1S80. No abstract available. French.
• Background Macarthur AJ, Macarthur C. Incidence, severity, and determinants of perineal pain after vaginal delivery: a prospective cohort study. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2004 Oct;191(4):1199-204. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2004.02.064.
• Background Albers L, Garcia J, Renfrew M, McCandlish R, Elbourne D. Distribution of genital tract trauma in childbirth and related postnatal pain. Birth. 1999 Mar;26(1):11-7. doi: 10.1046/j.1523-536x.1999.00011.x.
• Background Peter EA, Janssen PA, Grange CS, Douglas MJ. Ibuprofen versus acetaminophen with codeine for the relief of perineal pain after childbirth: a randomized controlled trial. CMAJ. 2001 Oct 30;165(9):1203-9.
• Background Hedayati H, Parsons J, Crowther CA. Rectal analgesia for pain from perineal trauma following childbirth. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;(3):CD003931. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003931.
• Background White PF. The changing role of non-opioid analgesic techniques in the management of postoperative pain. Anesth Analg. 2005 Nov;101(5 Suppl):S5-S22. doi: 10.1213/01.ANE.0000177099.28914.A7.
• Background Marret E, Kurdi O, Zufferey P, Bonnet F. Effects of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs on patient-controlled analgesia morphine side effects: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Anesthesiology. 2005 Jun;102(6):1249-60. doi: 10.1097/00000542-200506000-00027.
• Background Brennan TJ, Zahn PK, Pogatzki-Zahn EM. Mechanisms of incisional pain. Anesthesiol Clin North Am. 2005 Mar;23(1):1-20. doi: 10.1016/j.atc.2004.11.009.
• Background Kawamata M, Watanabe H, Nishikawa K, Takahashi T, Kozuka Y, Kawamata T, Omote K, Namiki A. Different mechanisms of development and maintenance of experimental incision-induced hyperalgesia in human skin. Anesthesiology. 2002 Sep;97(3):550-9. doi: 10.1097/00000542-200209000-00006.
• Background Sanford M, Keating GM. Levobupivacaine: a review of its use in regional anaesthesia and pain management. Drugs. 2010 Apr 16;70(6):761-91. doi: 10.2165/11203250-000000000-00000.
• Background Ausems ME, Hulsewe KW, Hooymans PM, Hoofwijk AG. Postoperative analgesia requirements at home after inguinal hernia repair: effects of wound infiltration on postoperative pain. Anaesthesia. 2007 Apr;62(4):325-31. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2007.04991.x.
• Background Franchi M, Cromi A, Scarperi S, Gaudino F, Siesto G, Ghezzi F. Comparison between lidocaine-prilocaine cream (EMLA) and mepivacaine infiltration for pain relief during perineal repair after childbirth: a randomized trial. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2009 Aug;201(2):186.e1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2009.04.023. Epub 2009 Jun 26.
• Background Minassian VA, Jazayeri A, Prien SD, Timmons RL, Stumbo K. Randomized trial of lidocaine ointment versus placebo for the treatment of postpartum perineal pain. Obstet Gynecol. 2002 Dec;100(6):1239-43. doi: 10.1016/s0029-7844(02)02339-6.
• Background Kafali H, Iltemur Duvan C, Gozdemir E, Simavli S, Ozturk Turhan N. Placement of bupivacaine-soaked Spongostan in episiotomy bed is effective treatment modality for episiotomy-associated pain. J Minim Invasive Gynecol. 2008 Nov-Dec;15(6):719-22. doi: 10.1016/j.jmig.2008.08.006.
• Background Sillou S, Carbonnel M, N'Doko S, Dhonneur G, Uzan M, Poncelet C. [Postpartum perineal pain: effectiveness of local ropivacaine infiltration]. J Gynecol Obstet Biol Reprod (Paris). 2009 Oct;38(6):510-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jgyn.2009.03.008. Epub 2009 Jun 2. French.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.