What are the ED50 and ED95 of intrathecal hyperbaric bupivacaine coadministered with opioids for cesarean delivery?
The ED95 of intrathecal bupivacaine with opioids for cesarean delivery is higher than recently proposed low doses, suggesting lower doses require a catheter-based technique.
The ED95 of intrathecal bupivacaine under the conditions of this study is considerably in excess of the low doses proposed for cesarean delivery in some recent publications. When doses of intrathecal bupivacaine less than the ED95, particularly near the ED50, are used, the doses should be administered as part of a catheter-based technique.
Ginosar et al. (2004) studied this question.