Use of Standardized Algorithm for the Management of Epidural Analgesia for Labor and Delivery

NCT04814199 · Status: COMPLETED · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 50

Last updated 2022-01-31

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Programmed Intermittent Epidural Bolus (PIEB) has become a standard technique for labour analgesia in many departments of anesthesia. Advantages to the former standard of care, continued epidural infusion (CEI), include reduced analgesic consumption , better maternal satisfaction and less occurrence of motor block . At Mount Sinai Hospital, the introduction of a bundle of changes in the management of labor analgesia including the use of PIEB, has resulted in an improvement of the quality of labor analgesia. This bundle of changes included labor catheter placement more often at L2/L3 interspace, more frequent use of fentanyl in the epidural loading dose, the implementation of a PIEB regimen and an increase in hourly baseline offer of local anesthetic.

A recent before-and-after study conducted by the investigators, comparing the current practice with the previous practice, which was based on CEI, identified that the incidence of women experiencing pain \>3 (scale 0-10) (40% vs 30%) and the number of nurse-administered top-ups (24% vs 3%) were significantly reduced. However, despite that significant improvement, some 30% of women undergoing epidural analgesia still experience pain NRS \>3 (NRS scale 0-10) during either first or second stage of labor.

Although the health care team attempts to manage epidurals as standardized as possible, there is some variation in practice resulting from the many stakeholders involved in the labor analgesia management, including anesthesiologists, obstetricians, nurses and patients. The investigators hypothesized that our most recent results may be explained by the lack of standardization of the management of epidural analgesia and that a standardized epidural catheter placement and a management algorithm may improve the efficacy of our epidural analgesia regimen.

The aim of this pilot study is to test the feasibility and efficacy of the use of a standardized algorithm for the management of labor epidural analgesia based on a PIEB regimen.

Conditions

  • Labor Pain

Interventions

OTHER

Algorithm

Patients will have a printed algorithm to follow while they are in labour with an epidural for pain management.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Jose Carvalho, MD · MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
55 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2021-05-04
Primary Completion
2021-10-28
Completion
2021-10-29

Countries

  • Canada

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04814199 on ClinicalTrials.gov