Retrospective review assesses catheter failure rates in combined spinal epidural compared to traditional epidurals, suggesting implications for labor analgesia satisfaction.
Acta Anaesthesiol Scand . 2025 Jan;69(1):e14542. doi: 10.1111/aas.14542. Combined spinal epidural (CSE) labor analgesia has been reported to have a lower failure rate of epidural catheters when compared to traditional epidural analgesia. Failing catheters can lead to breakthrough pain and administration of analgesia at a later stage in labor, both of which can interrupt pain relief and lower patient satisfaction. Previous literature has shown some reduction in catheter failure rate in CSE, and some more recent studies have not shown this difference to be significant. This study was designed to assess the failure rate of epidural catheters in CSE compared with traditional epidurals.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Sakova et al. (2026) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: