A prospective observational study indicated beneficial effects of intrathecal 0.5% Bupivacaine when added to the routine Buprenorphine for postoperative analgesia in elective cesarean (C)-section. Researchers sought to compare Bupivacaine with Bupivacaine + Buprenorphine for successful analgesia after C-section.

Overall, 40 pregnant women were randomly divided into two groups: (i) Group I: Received 0.5% Bupivacaine, and (ii) Group II: Received combination of 0.5% Bupivacaine and 60-μg Buprenorphine. Comparison of clinical parameters for pain alleviation by visual analog scale (VAS), duration of analgesia, and the occurrence of side effects was done. Using the ANOVA test, the obtained values were compared.

Compared to Group I, Group II exhibited a remarkable longer duration and faster onset of analgesia. For Group I, the VAS score and number of rescue analgesia needed was higher when compared to Group II. More adverse effects were reported in the Buprenorphine group, as shown in Table 1:

Thus, Bupivacaine when used in conjunction with Buprenorphine is beneficial for pain management after C-section.