Treatment of labor pain with locally applied ketocaine

Ketocaine, a new local anesthetic drug, was used for treatment of referred pain during labor. In a randomized, double-blind manner, fifty primigravidae received compresses containing either ketocaine in a 10 per cent ethanol solution or compresses with saline (placebo). The compresses were applied to the skin areas where the patient experienced the most intense pain. Nineteen of the 25 patients receiving ketocaine compresses reported good or moderate pain relief for an average of 2.5 h (range 1--5 h). These patients had a mean cervical dilatation of 3 cm (range 2--5 cm). In patients without effect of the compresses, the cervix was dilated to a mean of 6 cm (range 5--8 cm). In patient reporting good effect of the treatment, pains were located mainly to the back. Only six of the 25 patients receiving placebo compresses obtained relief of pain. The effect ceased immediately upon removal of the compresses. There was no relation between pain relief and the degree of cervical dilatation, or localization of the pain. No maternal or fetal side-effects related to the treatment were registered.