Effectiveness of tramadol compared to pentazocine in pain management during labour

Background: Pain and agony during childbirth is quite often unbearable and at times beyond description. Pain relief can help in removing curb due to pain. To determine the efficacy of intramuscular tramadol hydrochloride as an analgesic during labor compared to those of pentazocine.Methods: This randomized controlled trial conducted at Jinnah post graduate medical center, ward 8 (Gynaecology and obstetrics) between 2nd December 2013 to 1st June 2014 after approval from the ethical committee of the hospital. Pregnant women aged 15 to 45 years, parity ≥1 with Gestational age between 37 to 42 weeks with a single fetus were included in this study. The subjects fulfilling inclusion criteria were enrolled after informed consent. Women were allocated randomly to pentazocine or tramadol. Labour pain was assessed immediately by 4-point visual rating scale before, at 30, and 60 minutes after injection of the trial drug and mean score was calculated. The data was analysed using SPSS version 20.Results: A total of 128 patients were randomized to ether tramadol or pentazocine. The mean age of enrolled participants is 30±7.01 years and 53.1% participants were below 30 years of age. Of 64 patients who received tramadol, 53 (82.8%) had pain relief compared to 39 (60.9%) in patient who received pentazocine (p=0.005).Conclusions: It is concluded from this study that tramadol is more effective in reducing labor pain