Effect of analgesia with combined spinal-epidural block on the outcomes of delivery

Objective: To investigate whether analgesia with combined spinal-epidural block influences the outcomes of delivery.Methods: It was a respective study involving 255 pregnant women from Oct 2004 to Dec 2005.129 parturients who were voluntary to labor analgesia were selected as analgesia group,and 126 pregnant women were selected randomly in the same period as the control group.The duration of labor,the mode of labor,the requirement of oxytocin,fetal distress and the neonatal Apgar's score were compared.Results: Fifteen minutes after application of analgesia,100% patients felt painless during the labor.The analgesia group had a significantly longer duration of active period in the first stage and second stage of labor than the control group,but there was no significant difference between the two groups in the duration of the latent period in the first stage and the third stage of the labor,neither was the amount of the bleeding in the 2 hours after delivery.In addition,the rate of cesarean section was significantly lower in the analgesia group than that of the control group,and the oxyctocin usage was more frequent in the analgesia group,but there was no difference between the two groups in the Apgar scores of newborns in 1 min and 5 min,neither was the rate of instrumental delivery.Conclusion: Combined spinal-epidural analgesia with low dose ropivicaine and fentanyl is a safe and effective method for painless labor,and the duration of the labor was longer than that of the control,but it has no influence on the mother and newborn.