Update on some aspects of the use of epidural analgesia in labour

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of epidural analgesia on blood pressure, duration of the second stage and mode of delivery. In a prospective controlled study carried out in a district general hospital, 122 parturients made up the study population; 81 had epidural blocks and 41 had other forms of analgesia during labour. Data were collated using questionnaires within 48 hours of delivery: 58/81 (71.6%) of those who chose epidural were primigravidae compared with 14/41 (34%) in the non-epidural group (p < 0.001). During labour, minimum diastolic blood pressure was significantly lower in the epidural group: 65.8 versus 72.4 mmHg (p = 0.003). Mean duration of the second stage of labour was significantly longer in the epidural group: 108.3 versus 41.6 minutes (p < 0.0001); 28/81 (34.6%) of the epidural group had operative vaginal deliveries compared with 6/41 (14.6%) of the non-epidural group (p = 0.0004). Epidural analgesia provides an effective form of pain relief in labour, which has a particularly strong appeal to primigravidae. It has a hypotensive effect which can be put to beneficial effect in hypertensive disease of pregnancy, but is significantly associated with a lengthened second stage of labour, resulting in an increased operative vaginal delivery rate.