OBJECTIVE To examine the status of obstetric epidural analgesia services in Hong Kong public hospitals in 2001, and to compare findings with those from a similar survey conducted in 1995. DESIGN Postal questionnaire survey. SETTING Hospital Authority hospitals in Hong Kong offering an obstetric and delivery service. PARTICIPANTS Chiefs of Service of departments of anaesthesia and coordina...

INTRODUCTION Epidural analgesia has become the most popular method for labor pain relief. Analgesia in Labor: Yes or No? Labor pain is a complex phenomenon with sensory, cognitive, motivational, emotional, social, and cultural variables. Pain and anxiety lead to adrenergic hyperactivity, hyperventilation, hypocapnia with reduced uteroplacental blood flow and uncoordinated uterine activity, so p...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate patient attitudes about epidural services in labour and correlate them with patient options and actual usage of epidural analgesia. DESIGN Questionnaire survey. SETTING Eight Hospital Authority obstetrics units. PARTICIPANTS A cohort of new antenatal patients and a cohort of postnatal in-patients over 1 calendar month. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Antenatal patient aware...

BACKGROUND Epidural analgesia is one of the most popular modes of analgesia for child birth. There are controversies regarding adverse effects and safety of epidural analgesia. This study was conducted to study the immediate effects of the maternal epidural analgesia on the neonate during early neonatal phase. METHODS A prospective cohort study of 100 neonates born to mothers administered epi...

BACKGROUND Combined spinal-epidural analgesia provides rapid-onset analgesia with minimal motor block, but it is a more invasive technique than epidural analgesia and the risk of complications may be increased. This study compared the safety and effect on delivery of combined spinal-epidural and epidural analgesia in labor. METHODS A retrospective observational study was performed. Data were ...

BACKGROUND Despite epidural analgesia increasingly being utilized in hospitals, very little research-based evidence is available about registered nurses' (RNs) and midwives' knowledge of this technique. OBJECTIVE To describe the current epidural knowledge levels of RNs and midwives in a multi-site setting. METHOD RNs and midwives at four, regional teaching facilities completed an epidural k...

Introduction: The starting point of this study was the considerably lower rate of epidural analgesia use among women of Turkish origin in Germany compared to non-immigrant women in the German Research Foundation (DFG)-funded study entitled "Perinatal Health and Migration Berlin". The study aimed to identify possible differences in the women's attitudes towards epidural analgesia. Methods: Explo...

background: accidental dural puncture during epidural blockade is a rare complication. since postdural puncture headache (pdph) is the most frequent complication, a wisely management method will also reduce the incidence of pdph. methods: five patients who had inadvertent dural puncture during the epidural procedure before hip or knee arthroplasty were included in this study. after dural punctu...

Objective- This study was performed to investigate the analgesic effects of lidocaine and lidocaine/tramadol combination in epidural anaesthesia in dromedary camels. Design- Experimental Study Animals- Eight healthy immature dromedary camels Methods - The camels were randomly designed in 2 equal groups. In group L: lidocaine 2% (0.22 mg/kg) and in group LT: a combination of lidocaine 2% (0.22 m...

BACKGROUND Low-dose combined spinal-epidural analgesia in labor has proved popular with women because lower-limb motor power is preserved, allowing ambulation. However, there has been debate about the safety of allowing women to walk following low-dose regional analgesia because of somatosensory impairment. The authors undertook a prospective controlled observational study using computerized dy...