The Effect of Epidural Analgesia for Labor Pain on the Cesarean Section

Chung, Sung Won; Park, Tae Kyu; Kim, Ae Ra; Jeon, Jae Kyu

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is some concem that the administration of epidural analgesia for pain relief during labor increases the likelihood of cesarean delivery. But, several investigators showed a decrease in the rate of emergency cesarean delivery after epidural analgesia. The purpose of this study was to compare the emergency cesarean rate between the two groups with and without epidural analgesia.
METHODS
We reviewed retrospectively the medical records for 7846 parturients admitted our hospital between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 1996 and whose attending physician anticipated a normal labor and vaginal delivery. The number of parturients with epidural analgesia using 0.25% bupivacaine with fentanyl were 2839 and parturients without epidura1 analgesia were 5017.
RESULTS
An administration of epidural analgesia was not associated with the incidence of cesarean rate. 149 (5.25%) of 2839 parturients in epidural group and 371 (7.31%) of 5017 parturients in non- epidural group underwent emergency cesarean section.
CONCLUSIONS
Our retrospective study has shown that an administration of epidural analgesia neither decrease nor increase in the rate of emergency cesarean delivery when compared with a non-epidural analgesia.