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Biomedical subjects

J Bamber

Publications and source records attributed to J Bamber.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Audit of the influence of body mass index on the performance of epidural analgesia in labour and the subsequent mode of delivery.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of body mass index (BMI) on the performance of epidural analgesia in labour and the subsequent mode of delivery. DESIGN: A retrospective audit of prospectively collected quality assurance data. SETTING: The delivery suite of Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, UK. This is a 4500-delivery teaching hospital unit. POPULATION: All women receiving epidural analgesia during labour in our unit between April 1997 and December 2005. METHODS: Epidural recipients were divided into BMI groups according to World Health Organization (WHO) categories and compared for indices of epidural performance and mode of delivery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Midwife and patient satisfaction scores with epidural analgesia, epidural resite rates, and mode of delivery. RESULTS: Data from 13 299 epidural recipients were analysed. Using WHO definitions, 22.8% were of normal body mass, 41.9% were overweight, 31.9% obese, and 3.4% morbidly obese. Epidurals were more likely to fail as BMI increased, as judged by midwife satisfaction scores (P < 0.001) and epidural resite rates (P < 0.01). This trend was not seen for maternal satisfaction scores using the WHO BMI categories. However, if women with BMI below 30 kg/m2 were grouped together, a significant trend was found (P < 0.01). BMI had no influence on vaginal instrumental deliveries, but caesarean section rates rose from 11.5% in women of normal BMI to 29.2% in the morbidly obese women (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Obesity increases the incidence of analgesic failure and the need for resite of epidurals. The caesarean section rate among epidural recipients increases dramatically as BMI rises.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Acellular pertussis vaccine given by accelerated schedule: response of preterm infants.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the immune response of preterm infants to a diphtheria/tetanus/three component acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine, under an accelerated schedule, and the effects of steroids on this response. To compare responses with those of term infants. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Five Wessex neonatal units; Hertfordshire immunisation clinics. PATIENTS: Infants born at < 32 weeks; term controls. INTERVENTIONS: DTaP-Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine given at 2, 3, and 4 months. Blood taken to assess antibody responses to vaccines. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: IgG geometric mean concentrations (GMC) to vaccines. RESULTS: A total of 130 preterm (mean gestational age 29.1 weeks) and 54 term infants were recruited. After the third immunisation, preterm infants had similar GMCs to controls to diphtheria, tetanus, filamentous haemagglutinin (FHA), and pertactin (PRN), but a significantly lower GMC to pertussis toxin (PT). Responses to tetanus and PRN increased with age at the third immunisation, and those to tetanus, FHA, PRN, and PT increased with gestational age at birth. Response to tetanus correlated negatively with the number of doses of antenatal steroids received. There was no association between responses and postnatal steroids. CONCLUSION: When immunised with a combined acellular pertussis- H influenzae type b vaccine under an accelerated schedule, IgG GMC of preterm infants to PT was reduced. GMCs to tetanus, FHA, PRN, and PT increased with gestational age at birth, and GMCs to tetanus and PRN increased with age at the third immunisation. There is, however, no benefit in delaying immunisation. Anti-tetanus IgG decreased with increasing number of doses of antenatal steroids. There was no effect for postnatal steroids.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2001

Effect of fluid preload on maternal haemodynamics for low-dose epidural analgesia in labour.

We prospectively studied 30 women in labour who requested epidural analgesia. They were randomly allocated into two groups; one received a preload of 7 mL/kg normal saline and the other no preload. All patients had a standard epidural solution consisting of 0.1% bupivacaine 20 mL containing fentanyl 2 microg/mL. Mean arterial blood pressure and cardiac index were measured serially for 20 min after epidural drug administration. Cardiac index was measured using transthoracic electrical bioimpedance (BOMED). Power calculation showed that a sample size of 30 had 80% power to detect a difference of more than 20% in cardiac index using a two-sided test at a significance level of <0.05. No significant changes in cardiac index or mean arterial pressure occurred at any time in either group. These results suggest that routine fluid preloading is not necessary for 0.1% bupivacaine 20 mL with fentanyl 2 microg/mL as epidural bolus in labour.

Clinical Trial↗
PubMed2000

Ropivacaine 0.2% versus bupivacaine 0.1% with fentanyl: a double blind comparison for analgesia during labour.

We have performed a randomized, double-blind comparison of two epidural drug regimens for analgesia in labour. In the bupivacaine group (BUPIV), 101 healthy parturients received 0.1% bupivacaine with fentanyl 2 microg ml(-1). In the ropivacaine group (ROPIV), 102 women received 0.2% ropivacaine. Both groups received an initial loading dose of 15 ml, a continuous infusion of 8 ml h(-1), and top-ups of 10 ml. Breakthrough pain not responding to a routine top-up was treated with an 'escape' top-up of 10 ml 0.25% bupivacaine. The two groups were compared for complete analgesia at 30 min, routine and 'escape' top-up requirements, midwife assessment of analgesic efficacy, delivery mode, patient visual analogue scores (VAS) for first and second stage analgesia, overall satisfaction, and patient assessment of motor blockade. Patients receiving ropivacaine received fewer routine top-ups (median 1.0 vs. 2.0, P=0.001) and fewer escape top-ups (9.8% vs. 21.8%, P=0.02). The ropivacaine group was more likely to be pain free in the first stage (51% vs. 33.7%, P=0.01). There were no significant differences in patients' assessment of motor block or mode of delivery between the groups. Pain relief and satisfaction scores from midwives and patients were consistently better in the ropivacaine group, but did not reach statistical significance.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Comparison of low-dose epidural with combined spinal-epidural analgesia for labour.

We have performed a randomized comparison of two low-dose epidural regimens for analgesia in labour, differing only in the manner in which initial analgesia was established. In the epidural (EPI) group, 484 women received a loading dose of 20 ml of 0.1% bupivacaine with fentanyl 2 micrograms ml-1. In the combined spinal-epidural (CSE) group, 524 women received a spinal injection of plain bupivacaine 2.5 mg with fentanyl 25 micrograms. In both groups, these initial doses were followed by 0.1% bupivacaine with fentanyl 2 micrograms ml-1 infused at a rate of 12 ml h-1, with 20-ml top-ups for breakthrough pain. The groups were compared for midwife assessment of analgesic efficacy, delivery mode, patient assessments of first stage analgesia, second stage analgesia, overall analgesia, motor block and complications. Midwives, who were not blinded to the treatment groups, assessed 61.6% of CSE as providing 'excellent' analgesia compared with 56.4% of epidurals (P = 0.02). Patients assessed overall analgesia as 'excellent' in 74.8% of CSE compared with 71.7% of epidurals (P = 0.14). Other comparisons between groups revealed no differences. These findings may have been affected by an uneven distribution of multiparous women between the groups (25% in the EPI group and 34.2% in the CSE group; P = 0.002). However, subgroup analysis of primiparous and multiparous women did not alter the results.

Adolescent↗