Early Epidural for Women in Labor

Combined spinal-epidural analgesia during early labor does not increase the rate of cesarean delivery, according to a new study by anesthesiologists.

This means that in the future, pain relief may be available earlier for women in labor, especially for first-time mothers. The results of the study also showed that analgesia via the combined spinal-epidural technique resulted in better pain relief and a shorter labor when compared to pain medications administered by other routes such as intravenous or intramuscular injections.

The study findings were published in the February 17, 2005, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. Lead author of the study was Cynthia A. Wong, M.D., associate professor of anesthesiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Chicago, IL, USA).

Epidural or combined spinal-epidural analgesia administered by anesthesiologists blocks pain by numbing the nerves around the epidural space that encases the spinal cord. Epidural or combined spinal-epidural analgesia is administered to more than 1.5 million each year in the United States alone.