Rate, Complications, and Satisfaction of Epidural Analgesia among the Parturient Population

To determine the rate of labour epidural insertion, complications, and satisfaction among the parturient population admitted to the Department of Gynaecology, Doctors Hospital and Medical Centre, Lahore, Pakistan.

A clinical audit. Place and Duration of the Study: Maternity Unit, Doctors Hospital and Medical Centre, Lahore, Pakistan, from January 2021 to December 2023.

A total of 242 parturient patients underwent parturition from January 2021 to December 2023. Exclusion criteria included patients who presented for emergency caesarean sections, had not given consent, as well as those with an elective caesarean section plan and with bleeding diathesis or coagulation disorders. Data were collected manually and then presented in the form of frequencies (percentages) in a tabulated form in the Microsoft Word Office 365. All collections were done manually.

A total of 123 epidurals were administered during the study period. The epidural rate was 50.82% in this study, which is comparable to the rate in developed countries. There were no major complications such as death or respiratory distress. However, the minor complication rate was 14.6%, with the most common being hypotension, followed by shivering, dural tap, blood tap, and post-dural puncture headache.

The labour epidural rate can be improved with a collaborative approach between the anaesthetist and the gynaecologist to disseminate the required knowledge to the labouring population.

Epidural analgesia, Dural tap, Blood tap, Post-Dural puncture headache, Maternal satisfaction.