Maternal Hemodynamic Responses to Epinephrine-Containing Local Anesthetics in Mild Pre-Eclampsia

This study was undertaken to determine the maternal hemodynamic responses to epinephrine added to local anesthetics during lumbar epidural anesthesia for labor in 30 mildly preeclamptic patients. Group I (n=16) received 1.5% lidocaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine and group II (n=14) received plain 1.5% lidocaine in a double-blind randomized fashion. Parameters recorded included maternal blood pressures and heart rates, fetal heart rates, duration of analgesia, and neonatal outcome. None of the patients in group I developed hypertension after administration of lidocaine with epinephrine, and they had significant decreases in their mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures compared with baseline values ( P