Levobupivacaine Combined with Sufentanil and Epinephrine for Intrathecal Labor Analgesia: A Comparison with Racemic Bupivacaine

We performed a randomized, double-blinded study to compare levobupivacaine with racemic bupivacaine for labor analgesia. Eighty term parturients received either levobupivacaine 0.125% or racemic bupivacaine 0.125%, to which was added sufentanil 0.75 μg/mL and epinephrine 1.25 μg/mL. As part of a combined spinal-epidural procedure, 2 mL of this mixture was initially injected intrathecally, and the same solutions were subsequently administered epidurally. For both combinations, onset until the first painless contraction was 4 to 5 min. Most patients were pain free during the second contraction. The duration of initial spinal analgesia was 93.5 ± 20 min and 94.7 ± 31 min for levobupivacaine and racemic bupivacaine, respectively. The duration of analgesia for the first epidural top-up dose was also similar in the two groups. Total local anesthetic requirements during labor were not different. The only major difference observed was the absence of motor impairment in levobupivacaine-treated parturients as compared with the Racemic Bupivacaine group, in which the incidence of a Bromage-1 motor block was 34%. Other side effects and obstetric or neonatal outcomes were not different between groups. Intrathecal levobupivacaine has a similar clinical profile as racemic bupivacaine, but at equal doses it produced less motor block.