Abstract:Objective To investigate the effects of different doses of butorphanol combined with epidural analgesia on stages of labor and analgesic effect in parturients.Methods A total of 188 parturients who gave birth at Changzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital from October 2022 to October 2023 were selected and divided into four groups using a random number table method. The group A (n = 47) received 9.75 mL of 0.125% ropivacaine plus 0.25 mL of butorphanol, group B (n = 47) received 9.50 mL of 0.125% ropivacaine plus 0.50 mL of butorphanol, group C (n = 47) received 9.00 mL of 0.125% ropivacaine plus 1.00 mL of butorphanol, and group D (n = 47) received 8.50 mL of 0.125% ropivacaine plus 1.50 mL butorphanol. Primary outcomes included pain intensity, analgesic effects, stages of labor, Bromage scores, and neonatal Apgar scores at various time points as well as complications.Results The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores before and 10 minutes and 30 minutes after analgesia in all groups were compared via the repeated measures ANOVA, which demonstrated that they were different among the time points (P < 0.05) and the groups (P < 0.05), and that the change trends of the VAS scores were different among the groups (P < 0.05). The onset times of analgesia shortened sequentially (P < 0.05), the number of PCA press reduced sequentially (P < 0.05), and the time of the first PCA prolonged sequentially (P < 0.05) in each group. The duration of the first stage of labor decreased sequentially across the groups (P < 0.05), while no significant difference was observed in the second and the third stages of labor among the groups (P > 0.05). The Bromage scores after 30 minutes of analgesia and at delivery in all groups were compared via the repeated measures ANOVA, exhibiting that they were different among the time points (P < 0.05) but not among the groups (P > 0.05), and that the change trends of Bromage scores were not different among the groups (P > 0.05). The Apgar scores at 1 minute and 5 minutes after birth in all groups were also compared via the repeated measures ANOVA, which showed that they were not different among the time points (P >0.05) or among the groups (P > 0.05), and that the change trends of Apgar scores were not different among the groups (P > 0.05). A significant difference in the incidence of adverse events among the groups was detected via the Chi-square test (P < 0.05).Conclusions The combination of 9.00 mL of 0.125% ropivacaine with 1.00 mL of butorphanol effectively reduces pain intensity, shortens labor duration, and ensures the safety and efficacy of labor analgesia, making it worthy of being widely applied in clinical practice.