RESUMO
PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to compare and evaluate the obstetrical differences between three techniques, including the programmed intermittent epidural bolus (PIEB), the patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA), and the continuous epidural analgesia (CEA). METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study that investigates the obstetrical outcomes of 2240 patients who received EA during labor in a tertiary maternal unit over the course of 9 years (2011-2018). The only inclusion criterion was the use of epidural analgesia during childbirth and the only exclusion criteria were multiplets' gestation. Multivariate logistic regression, Kruskal-Wallis test, and the log-rank test were utilized to compare the differences between the three EA techniques in terms of cesarean section rate, the incidence of perineal tears, the use of Oxytocin, the duration of labor, and the incidence of paresthesia. RESULTS: Out of the 2240 included deliveries; 1084 utilized PIEB, 1086 PCEA, and 70 CEA techniques. The incidence of Cesarean section was the highest in the CEA group (45.7%) compared to PIEB (24.8%) and PCEA (24.4%) P < 0.001. A significantly shorter duration of labor (vaginal delivery) was observed in the PCEA group (n: 821, 336.7 min) compared to the PIEB group (n: 814, 368.8 min) P < 0.001. There were no statistically significant differences in the incidence of perineal tears, the need of uterotonics, and the incidence of paresthesia. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that the PIEB and PCEA techniques are superior to the CEA technique when it comes to analgesia during childbirth. In this study, the PCEA technique seems to be the best-suited technique for childbirth, since it had a significantly shorter duration of labor than the PIEB technique.
RESUMO
PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to investigate the association between post-cesarean sonographic uterine measures, dysmenorrhea, and bleeding disorders. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study where 500 women with a history of only one cesarean section (CS) were recruited. A transvaginal transducer, GE RIC6-12-D was used for the acquisition of volumetric datasets 18 ± 7 months postpartum. Uterine length (UL), cervical length (CL), niche length (L), niche depth (D), niche width (W), fibrosis length (FL), fibrosis depth (FD), residual myometrial thickness (RMT), endometrial thickness (EM), scar to internal os distance (SO), anterior myometrial thickness superior (sAMT) and inferior (iAMT) to the scar, and the posterior myometrial thickness opposite the scar (PMT), superior (sPMT), and inferior to it (iPMT) were measured. Logistic regression with odds ratios (OR), 95% confidence intervals (CI) and ROC curves were utilized. RESULTS: The proportion of patients with incident post-cesarean bleeding disorders and dysmenorrhoea was 36% (CI 32%, 40%) and 17% (CI 14%, 21%) respectively. Univariate logistic regression showed that only UL was associated with bleeding disorders [OR 1.04 (CI 1.01,10.7) p value 0.005], whereas dysmenorrhea was associated with RMT [OR 0.82 (CI 0.71,0.95) p value 0.008], SO [OR 0.91 (CI 0.86,0.98) p value 0.01], and RMT ratio [OR 0.98 (CI 0.97,0.99) p value 0.03]. Multivariate logistic regression for dysmenorrhoea including SO and RMT remains statistically significant with p values <0.05 and area under the curve of 0.66. CONCLUSION: There is an association between sonographic appearance of CS scars and dysmenorrhoea. Nevertheless, the association is weak and other biological post-cesarean characteristics should be explored as potential causes.
