A five-year prospective analysis of the efficacy, safety and morbidity of epidural anaesthesia performed by a general practitioner anaesthetist in an isolated rural hospital

Abstract

During a five-year period, 324 epidurals were performed by a general practitioner anaesthetist in an isolated rural hospital. Of these 160 were for obstetric purposes, 72% in primagravida patients, the majority in early and established labour (median cervical dilatation of 3.0 cm). The median epidural insertion time was seven minutes: 80% were free of all complications, there were no dural taps and there was a failure rate of 2%. The median visual analogue pain score (VAPS) was 8.3 prior to insertion and at peak of epidural blockade it was reduced to 0.5. Ten per cent of patients had unblocked segments, half of these were corrected and 90% of patients had even blocks. Despite higher pain scores in the 6-10 cm cervical dilatation group, epidural analgesia was just as effective when compared to the 0.5 cm group. Seventy-seven percent of women interviewed the day after delivery were fully satisfied with the epidural: 19% said it was considerable help, 2% some help and 2% said no help at all. During epidural caesarean section (n = 72), 75% of patients were comfortable, 17% had some discomfort and 7% required general or spinal anaesthesia. The incidence of hypotension (systolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg), was 24.6% with a median ephedrine dose of 10 mg; however, with a greater than 20% drop in systolic blood pressure, the dose of ephedrine required to maintain blood pressure increased in a log-dose fashion. For women who received epidurals in labour, the caesarean section rate was 25%, instrumental vaginal delivery 34% and spontaneous vaginal delivery 41%. There were no adverse neonatal outcomes.