Korean J Obstet Gynecol.  2001 Mar;44(3):460-465.

The Clinical Outcome of Epidural Analgesia on Labor and Delivery of Nulliparous Women

• Koo MK
• Kim HH
• Cho SH
• Kim SR
• Jo SH
• Kim KT
• Moon H
• Hwang YY
• Kim KH
• Yoo JB
• Ryu KY
• Lee YY

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Our purpose was to determine the effect of epidural analgesia on the first phase of labor and mode of delivery of nulliparous women.
METHODS
We studied 170 nulliparous women at near-term who underwent spontaneous and induced labor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hanyang University Hospital from January 1999 to May 2000 prospectively. Eighty women who were received epidural analgesia for pain relief were compared to ninety women as control group. Cesarean delivery was performed when indicated.
RESULTS
The demographic characteristics of the two groups were similar with respect to age, height, weight, gestational weeks, and gravida. The two groups had the same cervical dilatation at the time of analgesia. There were no statistically significant difference between two groups. The length of the first phase of labor was same between two groups(558.4+/-50.4 min. vs 452.1+/-46.7 min.). There were statistically significant differences in the instrument delivery and cesarean section rate between two groups(43 vs. 32, 8 vs. 16 respectively).
CONCLUSIONS
Epidural analgesia provides safe and effective intrapartum pain control and may be administered without undesirable effects on the first phase of labor and delivery.

Keyword

Epidural analgesia

MeSH Terms

Analgesia
Analgesia, Epidural*
Cesarean Section
Female
Gynecology
Humans
Labor Stage, First
Labor, Induced
Obstetrics
Pregnancy
Prospective Studies