Remifentanil patient-controlled analgesia during labour: A service evaluation at our district general hospital

Remifentanil is a potent, short-acting opioid with novel pharmacokinetic properties, making it effective for analgesia in labour when administered by intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). Many maternity units in the United Kingdom offer remifentanil PCA as an analgesic option in labour, but it is often restricted to circumstances when an epidural is contraindicated (1).

Warwick Hospital is a district general hospital with a busy maternity unit. We sought to evaluate our remifentanil PCA usage to determine the demand and safety of remifentanil PCA for analgesia in labour.