Why the study?
Does epidural analgesia affect the progress of labor and the incidence of operative or instrumental delivery in women during the first stage of labor?
Does epidural analgesia affect the progress of labor and the incidence of operative or instrumental delivery in women during the first stage of labor?
Retrospective data suggests epidural analgesia may be associated with prolonged labor and an increased need for operative or instrumental delivery, though randomized prospective data is lacking.
Retrospective associations should not change epidural practice; leaves open causality and need for randomized trials.
The potential effects of epidural analgesia on the progress of labor and the incidence of operative or instrumental delivery has been a subject of lasting controversy, particularly between obstetricians and anesthesiologists. This controversy is difficult to resolve since it is almost impossible to devise fully randomized, prospective studies comparing different modes of pain relief during the first stage of labor. There is no lack of retrospective reviews. Most of them indicate that epidural analgesia is associated with longer labors and/or an increased incidence of forceps delivery or cesarean section [1–7].
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Mieczyslaw Finster (1995) studied this question.
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