Effect of continuous epidural anesthesia on labor analgesia and pregnancy outcome

Objective To observe the clinical effect of continuous epidural anesthesia on labor analgesia and its effect on pregnancy outcome. Methods From July 2017 to June 2018, 110 hospitalized women giving birth in the Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital of Zhuji were selected and randomly divided into two groups according to the digital table, with 55 cases in each group.The control group was given conventional treatment.The observation group was treated with continuous epidural anesthesia for labor analgesia.The duration of labor, analgesic effect, delivery outcome, adverse reactions and neonatal status were compared between the two groups. Results The active time [(231.76±82.08)min], the second stage of labor [(63.94±22.56)min], and the total stage of labor [(309.42±120.15)min] in the observation group were all shorter than those in the control group[(275.62±85.31)min, (91.05±26.27)min, (380.84±121.63)min], and the differences were statistically significant(t=2.748, 5.806, 3.098, P=0.007, 0.001, 0.003). The analgesia satisfaction of the observation group was 100.00%(55/55), which was higher than 83.64%(46/55) of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant(χ2=9.802, P=0.002). In the observation group, the amount of vaginal bleeding [(241.62±30.54)mL], analgesic effect time [(62.80±11.96)s] were better than those in the control group[(270.55±40.83)mL, (135.18±20.73)s], and the differences were statistically significant(t=4.208, 22.429, P=0.001, 0.001). The rate of natural birth in the observation group was 87.27%(48/55), which was higher than that in the control group[70.91%(39/55)], and the difference was statistically significant(χ2=4.453, P=0.035). The incidence of neonatal distress in the observation group was 1.82%(1/55), and the incidence of asphyxia was 3.64%(2/55), which were lower than those in the control group [12.73%(7/55), 16.36%(9/55)], the differences were statistically significant(χ2=4.853, 4.950, P=0.028, 0.026). Conclusion Continuous epidural anesthesia in parturient analgesia can shorten the labor process and achieve satisfactory analgesic effect, which is helpful to improve the outcome of labor and neonatal condition. Key words: Anesthesia and analgesia; Anesthesia, epidural; Parturition; Labor, obstetric; Natural childbirth; Pregnancy outcome; Infant, newborn; Asphyxia neonatorum