The experience of two-epidural-catheter for painless labor

'Two epidural-catheters' method was used to relieve labor pain during the first and second stage of labor course. Six milliliters of a mixture of '0.15% bupivacaine +0.03% xylocaine +0.0005% fentanyl' was the main agent given through the epidural catheter every 2 hours when the cervix was 3-4 cm dilated with 4 ml of 1% xylocaine as test dose. Addition doses of the mixture were given when needed. Fifty two, ASA I-II, parturients (primigravida: 43, multipara: 9) were included in this study. The mode of delivery was: 59.6% by vacuum, 36.4% by normal spontaneous delivery (NSD), and 4% by Cesarean Section (C/S). 88.5% of newborns had Apgar score > or = 7 at 1 minute and all had Apgar score > or = 7 at 5 minutes. 38(73%) of 52 parturients were fully satisfied with the analgesic effect during the whole labor course and 14(27%) of 52 parturients were partially satisfied with the analgesic effect owing to 1) intolerable lower abdominal pain (11 cases), 2) mild painful episiotomy (1 case), and backache (2 cases). No motor block was noted. Good analgesic effect during the second stage labor course could be obtained by our 'Two-Epidural-Catheter' method and no significant complications of newborns and parturients were noted in our study.