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Updated: Mar 10, 2026
In Vivo Real-Time Study of Drug Effects on Carotid Blood Flow in the Ovine Fetus
Published on: April 28, 2023
Butorphanol use in laboring patients with preeclampsia or chronic hypertension
Kelly Garrity1, Allyson Jang1, Steve Wagner1
1Pennsylvania State University Milton S Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA, United States.
Objective:
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends against the use of butorphanol in patients diagnosed with preeclampsia or chronic hypertension secondary to a theoretical concern that the drug will further elevate blood pressures. No past study has examined the drug's potential to elevate blood pressures in laboring patients.
Methods:
In this retrospective cohort study all chronic hypertensive and preeclamptic patients who underwent an induction of labor and delivered a viable, singleton pregnancy between the dates of 1/1/2013 and 12/31/2014 at a single academic hospital were included.
Results:
The use of butorphanol in chronically hypertensive patients during labor was not associated with the presence of severe range blood pressures during labor (OR=0.92 95% CI: (0.04-19.34) P=0.96). In preeclamptic patients there was similarly no change in the frequency of severe range blood pressures with the use of the drug (OR=0.59 95% CI: (0.19-1.83) P=0.36).
Conclusion:
In laboring patients with chronic hypertension or preeclampsia butorphanol is not associated with severe range blood pressures, and therefore it is a reasonable option for providing pain relief in these populations.
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