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. 2022 Sep 25;28(1):29-35.
doi: 10.2478/rjaic-2021-0005. eCollection 2021 Jul.

Epidural Analgesia for Labour: Comparing the Effects of Continuous Epidural Infusion (CEI) and Programmed Intermittent Epidural Bolus (PIEB) on Obstetric Outcomes

Tal Avraham  1 , Yair Binyamin  2 , Sophie Benamram  3 , Daniel Ioscovich  4 , Reut Rotem  5 , Sorina Grisaru-Granovsky  5 , Alexander Ioscovich  3
Affiliations

Epidural Analgesia for Labour: Comparing the Effects of Continuous Epidural Infusion (CEI) and Programmed Intermittent Epidural Bolus (PIEB) on Obstetric Outcomes

Tal Avraham et al. Rom J Anaesth Intensive Care. .

Abstract

Objective: In the last few years there is a trend of transiting from the continuous epidural infusion (CEI) method for epidural analgesia to a new method - programmed intermittent epidural analgesia (PIEB). This change improves the quality of epidural analgesia, thanks to an increased spread of the anaesthetic in the epidural space and higher maternal satisfaction. Nevertheless, we must make sure that such change of method does not lead to worse obstetric and neonatal outcomes.

Materials and methods: This is a retrospective observational case control study. We compared several obstetrical outcomes between the CEI and PIEB groups, such as the rates of instrumental delivery, rates of caesarean section, duration of first and second stages of labour well as APGAR scores. We further segmented the subjects and examined them in groups of nulliparous and multiparous parturients.

Results: 2696 parturients were included in this study: 1387 (51.4%) parturients in the CEI group and 1309 (48.6%) parturients in the PIEB group. No significant difference was found in instrumental or caesarean section delivery rates between groups. This result held even when the groups were differentiated between nulliparous and multiparous. No differences were revealed regarding first and second stage duration or APGAR scores.

Conclusion: Our study demonstrates transition from the CEI to the PIEB method does not lead to any statistically significant effects on either obstetric or neonatal outcomes.

Keywords: Epidural anaesthesia; continuous epidural infusion; labour analgesia; programmed intermittent epidural bolus analgesia.

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