Influence of Intrathecal Fentanyl Combined with Double Catheter Epidural Analgesia on the Progress of Labor

Objective We investigated the influence of combined spinal-double catheter labor epidural(CSEA) technique on birth progress because of the controversy about this issue.Methods One hundred fifty six health primiparas,who wished obstetric analgesia,received intrathecal fentanyl 25 μg combined with double catheter epidural analgesia(CSEA).Control group included 154 cases without any analgesia.Results The duration of the first stage,the second stage and third stage in the CSEA [(506±182)min,(64±32)min and(12±6)min] group did not present significantly different compared with the control group [(478±210)min,(57±23)min and(11±8)min](P0.05).The rate of using ocytocin was higher in group CSEA than in group contro(P0.05).There was no difference on rate of instrumental delivery and Apgar score between two groups.The rate of caesarean section in CSEA(12.18%) group was significantly lower than in control(25.32%) group(P0.05).Conclusion Combined spinal-double catheter epidural(CSEA) analgesia did not affect birth progress and rate of instrumental delivery significantly.CSEA can significantly decrease the rate of caesarean section.