Intravenous dexmedetomidine as an adjunct for labor analgesia and cesarean delivery anesthesia in a parturient with a tethered spinal cord

For parturients desiring labor analgesia who have contraindications to neuraxial techniques, intravenous opioid-based patient-controlled analgesia (IVPCA) offers a reasonable alternative, although incomplete analgesia and maternal and neonatal respiratory depression can occur. Dexmedetomidine, a highly selective α₂ agonist with negligible placental transfer, may be a valuable adjunct to IVPCA by providing additional analgesia without the respiratory depression associated with increasing opioid usage. The successful use of a dexmedetomidine infusion as an adjunct to unsatisfactory fentanyl IVPCA is reported in a 31-year-old parturient with spina bifida occulta and a tethered spinal cord reaching L5-S1. Dexmedetomidine significantly improved the analgesic quality; increased sedation was observed, but the patient was easily rousable to verbal stimuli. No episodes of maternal hypotension or bradycardia, or fetal heart rate irregularities occurred. Cesarean delivery was required for prolonged first stage of labor and presumed chorioamnionitis; it was conducted under general anesthesia during which the dexmedetomidine infusion was continued. A healthy baby boy was delivered with normal Apgar scores and no discernible neurobehavioral or other deficits.