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Acupoint injection of ropivacaine for epidural blockade: Clinical observation of the use of labour analgesia
Jiang J, Lv H, Luo F, Lei W, Huang Y et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This is a clinical study of pain management techniques during labour, comparing epidural analgesia alone with a combined approach using acupoint injection of ropivacaine. The study involved 80 pregnant women at a Chinese hospital and measured pain levels, medication dosages, and maternal satisfaction. While the combined approach appeared to reduce required medication doses, this research focuses on obstetric pain management rather than child well-being.
Key points
- Study compared epidural analgesia alone versus acupoint injection combined with epidural analgesia for labour pain
- Combined acupoint injection approach reduced the required epidural ropivacaine dosage
- Maternal satisfaction improved with the combined acupoint injection approach
- No significant adverse effects were reported from the combined approach
- Study measured pain scores at four time points during labour and delivery
Limitations
This document concerns maternal pain management during labour rather than child health outcomes or well-being. The study does not measure impacts on newborn or child development, health, protection, or participation.
Abstract
Abstract Purpose: To observe the clinical effect of the acupoint injection (Hegu, Sanyinjiao) of ropivacaine for epidural blockade for labour analgesia. Methods: A total of 100 women who received labour analgesia at Shangyu Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Shaoxing City, from January 2024 to June 2024, who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and who signed informed consent forms were included. The patients were randomly divided into two groups: the epidural analgesia group (Group C) and the acupoint injection combined with epidural analgesia group (Group O). Following application of additional exclusion criteria, 80 patients were ultimately included in this clinical observation, with 40 patients assigned to each group. The following observation indices were used: the pain visual analogue scale (VAS) score [before labour analgesia (T0), 15 min after analgesia (T1), when the uterine opening reached 6 cm (T2), and when the perineal suture was closed in the third stage of labour (T3)], modified Bromage score, use of oxytocin, mode of delivery, amount of postpartum haemorrhage (ml), Apgar score [at 1 min and 5 min], additional amount of self-controlled analgesia administered, epidural ropivacaine dosage, total ropivacaine dosage, maternal adverse reactions [postpartum headache, urinary retention, and epidural-related maternal fever (ERMF)],and conduct a survey on maternal satisfaction and postpartum depression scale one day after delivery. DISCUSSIONS: The acupoint (Hegu, Sanyinjiao) injection of ropivacaine increased the effectiveness of epidural labour analgesia, reduced the required dosage of epidural ropivacaine without significant adverse effects, and significantly improved maternal satisfaction. This method of analgesia is therefore worthy of clinical promotion and use. (Retrospectively Registered No. ChiCTR2400092969,Registration date 2024-11-26)