The Effect of the Time of Injection of Intrathecal Analgesia on the Length of Early and Advanced Labor
Abstract
Controversies in obstetric anesthesia include the effect of regional analgesia on the progress and length of labor. The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the effect of the timing of intrathecal narcotic analgesia on women in the labor and delivery setting. The study population included 96 patients with low risk, singleton pregnancies with similar demographic characteristics. The study measured the length of first stage, second stage and total length of labor for women who received their initial intrathecal narcotic injection either in early (between two and four centimeters of cervical dilation) or advanced (between five and ten centimeters of cervical dilation) labor. The results were compared to a control group who received no regional anesthesia to determine if the timing of the initial intrathecal injection increased, decreased or had no effect on length of labor. This study found that the initial timing of intrathecal narcotics had no effect on the length of the first stage of labor. The results showed that the length of the second stage of labor for patients who received intrathecal narcotics in advanced labor increased from 25 minutes to 49 minutes compared to women who received no regional anesthesia. The timing of the first dose of the intrathecal narcotic had no effect on the total length of labor. The results of this study found that intrathecal narcotics do not prolong the length of labor.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 03, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA372281
Entities
People
- Brenda J. Koiro
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences