Dural Puncture Epidural VS Standard Epidural on Physician Top-ups During Labour Analgesia
Trial Parameters
Brief Summary
The purpose of this prospective randomized controlled study is to compare the number of physician top-up interventions during the first stage of labour between two different neuraxial analgesia techniques : the dural puncture epidural and the standard epidural.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Healthy pregnant women (ASA 1 and 2) requesting epidural analgesia during labour. 2. Primiparous and multiparous parturients at term gestation (37 to 42 weeks). 3. Women 18 years old and older. 4. Administration of epidural analgesia between 7am and 4pm on weekdays. 5. Singleton and vertex presentation foetus. 6. Cervical dilatation ≤ 5 cm. 7. BMI ≤ 40. 8. French speaking Exclusion Criteria: 1. Pregnancy diseases such as gestational hypertension, preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. 2. Contraindications to neuraxial analgesia: thrombocytopenia \< 70 x 109/L, spinal cord anomalies, anticoagulation therapy, etc. 3. Known important fetal anomalies. 4. Allergy to any of the medications used in the study. 5. Suspected chorioamnionitis with spontaneous premature rupture of membranes (PROM). 6. Difficulty understanding and speaking French.