[Experience obtained from segmental epidural analgesia in obstetrics (author's transl)]

Lumbar epidural anaesthesia was applied for obstetric analgesia to 103 women, most of them primiparae. Three different concentrations of Bupivacain (Markaine) were used for local anaesthesia, percentages being 0.5, 0.375, and 0.25. Effects and side-effects were evaluated. -- The rate of vacuum extraction was slightly increased under epidural analgesia (24.3 per cent), with ejection periods being enlarged to average values between 82 and 63 minutes. Frequency of caesarean sections as well as both the acid-base status and Apgar scores of the newborns were similar to those recordable from comparison groups. -- Advantages were clearly visible and side-effects of minor importance. Catheterisation for lumbar epidural anaesthesia, consequently, is recommended as an optional approach to obstetric analgesia.