Effects of Analgesic Techniques on Duration of Labor for Induction Patients

March 10, 2014 updated by: Christopher Cambic, Northwestern University

A Randomized Trial of the Impact of Three Labor Analgesia Techniques on Labor Duration in Nulliparous Labor Inductions

The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a difference in the duration of the first stage of labor in nulliparous women scheduled for an induction of labor, with whom analgesia is maintained with a combined spinal epidural (CSE) technique versus an epidural de novo technique. The investigators hypothesize that the duration of the first stage of labor will be no different in nulliparous patients who receive either intrathecal fentanyl or intrathecal fentanyl and bupivacaine, as part of a CSE technique. However, the duration of the first stage of labor will be shorter in parturients who receive intrathecal analgesia (as part of a CSE technique) compared to those who receive an epidural de novo technique with fentanyl and bupivacaine.

Study Overview

Status

Terminated

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

At the first request for neuraxial labor analgesia, the cervix will be examined. If < 4.0 cm, the patient will be randomized to either Combined spinal epidural (CSE) technique with intrathecal fentanyl, CSE technique with intrathecal bupivacaine and fentanyl, or epidural de novo technique.

Labor analgesia will be administered in the sitting position, at either the L2-3 or L3-4 interspace. All patients will receive a 500mL intravenous bolus of Lactated Ringer's solution. The epidural space will be located using the loss-of-resistance technique utilizing a 17-G Tuohy epidural needle. Patients assigned to an intrathecal dose will utilize the standard needle-through-needle technique. A 19-G epidural catheter will be inserted 5 cm in the epidural space and maintenance epidural analgesia will be initiated. Patients assigned to an epidural de novo technique will have the epidural space identified with a similar loss-of-resistance technique. The epidural catheter will be inserted 5 cm into the epidural space. Epidural analgesia will be initiated with fentanyl 100mcg + bupivacaine 0.125% 10-20 mL (in divided doses). Maintenance epidural analgesia will then be initiated.

Maintenance epidural analgesia will consist of patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) with bupivacaine 0.0625% and fentanyl 1.95 mcg/mL at the following parameters: basal rate of 8 mL/hr with bolus dose = 8 mL, lock-out interval = 10 min and maximum volume = 32 mL/hr.

Breakthrough pain in all groups will be managed using anesthesiologist administered epidural boluses of bupivacaine 1.25 mg/mL, 10-15mL, without fentanyl. If instrumental vaginal delivery is required, patients will receive anesthesiologist administered epidural boluses of chloroprocaine 30 mg/mL, 5-10 mL. If a patient does not have an adequate level of analgesia or has a one-sided block, despite epidural redoses, the epidural catheter will be replaced at another level and 0.125% bupivacaine 5-15 mL will be administered until an adequate level of analgesia is established.

The primary outcome of the study is duration of first stage of labor. Regular cervical examinations are necessary. Typically, full cervical dilation is diagnosed with a cervical examination only when the patient complains of rectal pressure, which is likely to be at a later time period in women with effective neuraxial analgesia compared to women with systemic opioid analgesia. Therefore, the duration of the first stage of labor will be artificially prolonged if regular cervical exams are not performed. The investigators intend to perform sterile cervical examinations at the first request for labor analgesia, then at routine times during the course of labor per the managing OB provider's discretion, and then every 2 hours after the patient reaches 90-100% cervical effacement until complete cervical dilation.

Fetal heart rate (FHR) tracings without information about group assignment or other treatment modalities will also be assessed by a perinatologist.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

134

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
        • Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 45 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Nulliparous
  • American Society of Anesthesia Physical Status (ASA) 2 females
  • > 18 years old
  • term (>37 weeks gestation)
  • singleton
  • vertex pregnancies
  • scheduled induction of labor

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Non-vertex presentation
  • Spontaneous labor or spontaneous rupture of membranes
  • contraindication to opioid or neuraxial analgesia
  • contraindication to combine spinal-epidural technique (e.g. unfavorable airway exam)
  • cervical dilation > 4.0cm
  • administration of systemic hydromorphine within 4 hours of epidural request

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Group E
Epidural de novo technique
Procedure: Epidural de novo
Patients will have the epidural space identified with a loss-of-resistance technique utilizing a 17-G Tuohy epidural needle. The epidural catheter will be inserted 5 cm into the epidural space. Epidural analgesia will be initiated with fentanyl 100mcg + bupivacaine 0.125% 10-20 mL (in divided doses). Maintenance epidural analgesia will then be initiated.
Active Comparator: Group BF
Combined spinal epidural (CSE) technique with intrathecal 0.5% Bupivicaine 2.5mg + Fentanyl 15mcg
Procedure: CSE
The epidural space will be located using the loss-of-resistance technique utilizing a 17-G Tuohy epidural needle. Patients will receive the intrathecal study drug via a 27-G pencil-point spinal needle utilizing the standard needle-through-needle technique. A 19-G epidural catheter will be inserted 5 cm in the epidural space. Maintenance epidural analgesia will then be initiated.
Active Comparator: Group F
Combined spinal epidural (CSE) technique with intrathecal fentanyl 25mcg
Procedure: CSE
The epidural space will be located using the loss-of-resistance technique utilizing a 17-G Tuohy epidural needle. Patients will receive the intrathecal study drug via a 27-G pencil-point spinal needle utilizing the standard needle-through-needle technique. A 19-G epidural catheter will be inserted 5 cm in the epidural space. Maintenance epidural analgesia will then be initiated.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Duration of first stage of labor
Time Frame: Onset of contractions or rupture of membrances to cervical dilation of 10cm
Sterile cervical examinations at the first request for labor analgesia will be done, then at routine times during the course of labor per the managing OB provider's discretion. When the patient reaches 90-100% cervical effacement, cervical exams will be done every two hours thereafter until the patient reaches complete cervical dilation. Cervical examinations will be performed using a sterile glove, by each patient's labor and delivery nurse or physician.
Onset of contractions or rupture of membrances to cervical dilation of 10cm

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Presence or absence of fetal heart rate decelerations
Time Frame: Time of first analgesic dose to 60 minutes
Time of first analgesic dose to 60 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Northwestern University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Christopher Cambic, MD, Northwestern University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

July 1, 2010

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 6, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 12, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

November 13, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 11, 2014

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 10, 2014

Last Verified

March 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STU00031120

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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