Effect of Patient-controlled Epidural Analgesia in Different Phases of Labor on Progress of Labor and Neonatal Outcomes

Objective To explore the effect of patient-controlled epidural allalgesia on progress of labor,mode of delivery,neonatal outcomes.Methods With prospective study,566 cases were divided into three groups according to receive epidural analgesia or not,186 cases in latency analgesion group,220 cases in active analgesion group and 160 cases in control group.Length of labor,oxytocin use,way of delivery,prenatal blood loss,1-and 5-minute Apgar scores of infants and neonatal asphyxia were compared among the three groups.Results Effective labor analgesia happened at two epidural analgesia groups.Epidural analgesia could shorten labor active course and decline the cesarean section rate (P0.05).No statistically significant difference was found in length of labor,prenatal blood loss,the rate of instrumental vaginal delivery,1-and 5-minute Apgar scores of infants and neonatal asphyxia rate among the three groups (P0.05).Length of the latency phase of labor was longer and the rate of oxytocin use was higher in latency epidural analgesia group,and the difference was statistically significant between latency epidural analgesia group and control group (P0.05).Conclusions Patient-controlled epidural analgesia can decline the cesarean section rate,but does not increase the risk of instrumental vaginal delivery and adverse effects on neonatal outcomes.It is feasible for epidural analgesia in latent phase.