Early Labor Epidural, No Increase in Cesarean Delivery Risk
Reported February 17, 2005
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Women who receive epidural anesthesia early in labor — when the cervix is dilated less than four centimeters — do not have a greater risk of cesarean delivery than women who receive an epidural later in their labor, according to a new study.
Researchers from the Departments of Anesthesiology and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago conducted a randomized trial of 750 women who were in spontaneous labor and who had a cervical dilation of less than four centimeters.
Women in the study were first treated with other types of analgesics. At the second request for analgesics, one group of women was given the epidural anesthesia before their cervix had dilated to more than four centimeters while the other group was given the epidural analgesic after their cervix had dilated beyond four centimeters.
Results show the rate of cesarean delivery was not significantly different between the groups, but the earlier epidural provided better pain reduction.
Authors conclude, “Neuraxial [epidural] anesthesia in early labor did not increase the rate of cesarean delivery, and it provided better analgesia and resulted in a shorter duration of labor than the systemic analgesia.”
SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2005;352:655-665
