Obstetrics and gynecology
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Obstetrics and gynecology · Mar 1987
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialContinuous infusion epidural analgesia with lidocaine: efficacy and influence during the second stage of labor.
A randomized double-blind study evaluated the analgesic efficacy and influence of maintaining a continuous epidural infusion of 0.75% lidocaine during the second stage of labor in nulliparous women. When the cervix was 8 cm or more dilated, unidentified study solution was substituted for the known 0.75% lidocaine solution and continued until delivery. The study solution for 26 patients was 0.75% lidocaine; 27 subjects received saline. ⋯ There was no difference between the groups in the duration of the second stage of labor (73 +/- 63 versus 76 +/- 48 minutes). Operative delivery frequency was similar (31 and 37%), as were umbilical cord blood acid-base values. It is concluded that maintenance of the continuous epidural infusion of 0.75% lidocaine did not prolong the second stage of labor, but it also did not significantly differ from saline in quality of second stage analgesia or frequency of perineal anesthesia.