Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
 |
Checking for direct PDF access through Ovid | |
Excerpt
In this letter, the authors noted that high-dose fentanyl has often been reported to be the drug of choice to minimize the harmful fetal stress response to fetal cardiac surgery. They therefore sought to evaluate, in midgestation fetal sheep, the efficacy of fentanyl in reducing this response. To their surprise, they found adverse effects, e.g., a paradoxic increase in fetal heart rate accompanied by a decrease in fetal pH and pO2, findings similar to those reported by Smith and colleagues.1 The authors wondered whether high-dose fentanyl could indeed be harmful to the placenta since opiates have been shown to cause vasoconstriction of placental and umbilical vasculature. In response, the fetus may shunt blood to the heart and brain. Until studies of umbilical blood flow before and after fentanyl administration are conducted, the authors suggest caution should be used when administering higher doses of fentanyl to pregnant women.
