Dural puncture epidural technique provides better anesthesia quality in repeat cesarean delivery than epidural technique:Randomized controlled study

BACKGROUND Repeat cesarean deliverys involve a longer surgery and more severe visceral traction than primary cesarean deliverys.The dural puncture epidural(DPE)technique provides faster and more effective analgesia for labor,but there is no sufficient evidence to indicate whether it is suitable for parturients undergoing repeat cesarean delivery.AIM To determine the efficacy and safety of the DPE anesthesia technique in patients undergoing repeat cesarean delivery.METHODS Patients undergoing repeat cesarean delivery were randomly divided into the DPE and epidural anesthesia(EA)groups.A 25-G spinal needle was used for dural puncture via a 19-G epidural needle.The patients in the two groups were injected with 5 mL of 2%lidocaine followed by 15 mL of a mixture of 1%lidocaine+0.5%ropivacaine as the epidural dosage.The primary outcome was the onset time of sensory block to the T6 dermatome level and the sensory and motor block degree.RESULTS A total of 115 women were included(EA:57,DPE:58).The mean time to sensory block to the T6 Level was significantly shorter in the DPE group than in the EA group(14.7 min vs 16.6 min;95%confidence interval,13.9 to 15.4 vs 15.8 to 17.4;P=0.001).The cranial sensory block level was significantly higher at 5,10,and 15 min after the initial dose in the DPE group than in the EA group(P<0.05).The sacral sensory block level was significantly higher and the modified bromage score was significantly lower in the DPE group at each time point(P<0.05).Adverse effects and neonatal outcomes were comparable between the two groups(P>0.05).CONCLUSION The DPE technique provided higher-quality anesthesia than the EA technique,with a rapid onset of surgical anesthesia,better cranial and sacral sensory block spread and a higher motor block degree,without increasing the incidence of maternal or fetal side effects in patients undergoing repeat cesarean delivery.

Effect of China's Universal Two-child Policy on the Rate of Cesarean Delivery: A Case Study of a Big Childbirth Center in China

China's universal two child policy was released in October of 2015.How would this new policy influence the rate of overall cesarcan delivery(CD)in China?The objective of this paper is to investigate the trend of overall CD rate with the increase of number of multiparous women based on a big childbirth center of China(a tertiary hospital)in 2016.In this study,22530 cases from the medical record department of a big childbirth center of China from January 1 to December 31 in 2016 were entolled as research objects.Electronic health records of these selected objects were retrieved.According t0 the history of childbirth,the selected cases were divided into primiparous group containing 16340 cases and multiparous group containing 6190 cases.Chi-square test was carried out to compare the rate of CD,neuraxial labor analgesia,maternity insurance between the two groups;1-test was performed to compare the in-hospital days and gestational age at birth between the two groups.Pearson corrclation coefficient was used to evaluate the rclationship among observed monthly rate of multiparas,overall CD rate,and Elective Repeat Cesarean Delivery(ERCD)rate.The results showed that the CD rate in multiparous group was 55.46%,which was higher than that in primiparous group(34.66%,P<0.05).The rate of neuraxial labor analgesia in multiparas group was 9.29%,which was lower than that in primiparas group(35.94%,P<0.05).However,the rate of maternity insurance was higher in multiparas group(57.00%)than that in primiparas group(41.08%,P<0.05).The hospital cost and in-hospital days in multiparas group were higher,and the gcstational age at birth in multiparas group was lower than in primiparas group(P<0.05).The overall CD rate slightly dropped in the first 4 months of the year(P<0.05),then increased from 36.27%(April)to 43.21%(Dcember)(P<0.05).The rate of multiparas women and ERCD had the same trend(P<0.05).There were linear correlations among the rate of overall CD,the rate of multiparas women and the rate of ERCD rate(P<0.05).With the opening of China's two-child policy,the increasing rate of overall CD is directly related with the high rate of ERCD.Trials of Labor After Cesarean Section(TOLAC)in safe mode to reduce overall CD rate are warranted in the future.