Placental transfer of pethidine and norpethidine and their pharmacokinetics in the newborn

Summary

The literature data available on pethidine and norpethidine kinetics in women in labour and in their newborns is reviewed and compared with recent personal observations. In pregnant women the apparent blood half-life of pethidine is not different from that in healthy controls, however, apparent volume of distribution and total body clearance are reduced. Norpethidine blood levels are measurable after 10–20 min and tend to increase with time. The amount of drug transferred to the foetus is clearly linked to the dose administered to the mother, the dosing-delivery interval and to the metabolic capability of the mother. An equilibrium between maternal and umbilical venous blood is reached 2–3 h after dosing for pethidine and later for norpethidine. In the neonate, the apparent pethidine half-life is 2 to 7 times longer than in adults with values ranging from 7 to 32 h. Norpethidine is actively formed in the newborn with peak blood levels at 12–36 h and an apparent blood half-life of 20–36 h. At the doses usually recommended blood concentrations at birth are frequently higher than those required for analgesia and close to or within toxic ranges. An effort toward a more individualized dosage as well as toward a better understanding of the possible role of norpethidine with regard to adverse effects is needed.