Knowledge, attitude and practice of parturients regarding epidural analgesia for Labour in a University Hospital in Karachi

To assess the knowledge, sources of knowledge, attitude [fears and misconceptions] regarding Epidural Analgesia [EA] and practices of parturients delivery at Aga Khan University hospital [AKUH]. A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted at the obstetric unit of AKUH, from November to December 2003. A questionnaire was filled through verbal interviews conducted on 448 parturients fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Seventy six% of the females were aware of epidural analgesia as a labor pain relieving method. However, only 19% availed EA. About 40% had heard about EA from their obstetricians and 64% from friends or relatives. Twenty even% believed that EA has detrimental effects on the baby while 9% stated that EA can prolong the duration of labour. Majority of the pregnant females delivering at Aga Khan University Hospital were aware of epidural analgesia for labour. However, only a small proportion are availing this service, due to fears and misconceptions

Preoperative haemoglobin and packed cell volumes

Haemoglobin and packed cell volumes were estimated in three groups of surgical inpatients, adult males, premenopausal females and postmenopausal females. In adult males the preoperative mean haemoglobin value were found to be significantly different from healthy Pakistani adult males and the percentage abnormalities detected increased significantly above the age of 45. Surprisingly in premenopausal females mean preoperative hemoglobin values did not significantly differ from healthy female population or post menopausal female. 45.3% individuals had hemoglobin levels beyond one standard deviation from the mean, and 15.7% had levels beyond two standard deviations. 5.5% had preoperative haemoglobin below 10G and 3.6% had packed cell volumes below normal [29% for males and 27% for females]