PIEB vs PCEA With Epidural or CSE Technique. A Randomized Double Blind Clinical Trial (PIEB-CT)

A Randomized Double Blind Clinical Trial Comparing Programed Intermittent Epidural Boluses (PIEB) Versus Patient Controlled Epidural Analgesia (PCEA) With Epidural or Combined Spinal-epidural (CSE) Technique

The investigators have design a randomized double blind clinical trial to know the incidence of breaktrough pain (BP) in high-risk of BP parturients (nulliparous with early cervical dilation) comparing two epidural analgesic regimes: programed intermittent epidural boluses versus patient controlled epidural analgesia. The role of the epidural technique (epidural versus combined spinal-epidural) in the incidence of BP will be also evaluated.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Labor Epidural Analgesia
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: PCEA vs PIEB; Procedure: Epidural vs CSE

Detailed Description

Women in labor receiving epidural analgesia may experience breakthrough pain (BP) that requires the use of additional medication and that is a source of dissatisfaction with the analgesic treatment for labor.

The investigators can define two types of BP: 'primary breakthrough pain' is the first moment when the patient requests analgesia during labor. 'Secondary breakthrough pain' can be defined as the time a previously effective epidural analgesia turns ineffective.

The BP may have multiple causes, such as delivery progression and catheter misplacement. There is no single pattern to provide adequate neuraxial analgesia for labor, but for certain patients and specific clinical situations some methods provide advantages over others.

The choice of a suitable system of epidural drug delivery has an important role in getting proper analgesia and a low incidence of breakthrough pain during labor. In order to develop preventive strategies for BP, some clinical scales to estimate its incidence rate have been described. Among risk factors for BP the investigators can include: Nulliparity, epidural catheter placement at an earlier cervical dilation, neonatal weight and technique performed (epidural versus combined spinal-epidural - CSE).

In addition, technological development has offered us new treatment modalities of pain management during childbirth have evolved recently to improve maternal satisfaction, as well as to treat and prevent BP: Patient Controlled Epidural Analgesia (PCEA) added or not to a continuous epidural infusion (CEI), computer integrated PCEA (CI-PCEA) and automatic or programed intermittent epidural boluses (PIEB).

Nowadays, there is no evidence about the best epidural analgesic treatment or the optimum epidural punction in order to reduce BP episodes and, hence, increase maternal satisfaction.

Therefore, the investigators have design a randomized double blind clinical trial to know the incidence of breaktrough pain (BP) in high-risk of BP parturients (nulliparous with early cervical dilation) comparing two epidural analgesic regimes added to a contiuous infusion of L-bupivacaine plus fentanyl: programed intermittent epidural boluses versus patient controlled epidural analgesia. The role of the epidural technique (epidural versus combined spinal-epidural) in the incidence of BP will be also evaluated.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 240
• Phase: Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Spain
  • Madrid, Spain, 28046
    • University Hospital La Paz

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years to 38 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age between 18 and 40 years
2. Gestational age between 37 and 41 weeks
3. Singleton pregnancies
4. Nulliparity
5. Spontaneous or induced labor
6. Cervical dilation less than four centimeters

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Do not meet all the inclusion criteria
2. Do not consent to the study
3. Systemic medical pathologies as pre-eclampsia, insulin-treated gestational diabetes or multiple sclerosis that could influence medical decision during labour and/or make randomization unfeasible
4. Contraindication for neuraxial analgesia

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Epidural analgesia; Randomized allocation to receive patient controlled epidural analgesia or programed intermittent epidural boluses	Device: PCEA vs PIEB; We evaluate the relation between the distribution of L-bupivacaine plus fentanyl in the epidural space and the incedence of breaktrough pain during labor
Experimental: Epidural technique; Randomized allocation to be punctioned a conventional epidural or a combined spinal-epidural technique	Procedure: Epidural vs CSE; We evaluate the relation between the type of epidural technique and the incedence of breaktrough pain during labor

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Incidence of breakthrough pain	Evaluation of breakthough pain episodes since epidural punction to delivery	Labor

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Total epidural infusion volume	Measurement of the total epidural infusion volume administered to the patient	Labor
Incidence of epidural failure	Assesment the incidence of failed epdirual technique	Labor
Mode of delivery (spontaneous, intrumental and cesarean section)	Analysis of the potential relation of the interventions with the type of delivery	Delivery

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hospital Universitario La Paz
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Emilia Guasch, MD, PhD, Anesthesia and Intensive Care Department

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Wong CA, Ratliff JT, Sullivan JT, Scavone BM, Toledo P, McCarthy RJ. A randomized comparison of programmed intermittent epidural bolus with continuous epidural infusion for labor analgesia. Anesth Analg. 2006 Mar;102(3):904-9. doi: 10.1213/01.ane.0000197778.57615.1a.
• Chua SM, Sia AT. Automated intermittent epidural boluses improve analgesia induced by intrathecal fentanyl during labour. Can J Anaesth. 2004 Jun-Jul;51(6):581-5. doi: 10.1007/BF03018402.
• Hogan Q. Distribution of solution in the epidural space: examination by cryomicrotome section. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2002 Mar-Apr;27(2):150-6. doi: 10.1053/rapm.2002.29748.
• Loubert C, Hinova A, Fernando R. Update on modern neuraxial analgesia in labour: a review of the literature of the last 5 years. Anaesthesia. 2011 Mar;66(3):191-212. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2010.06616.x.
• van der Vyver M, Halpern S, Joseph G. Patient-controlled epidural analgesia versus continuous infusion for labour analgesia: a meta-analysis. Br J Anaesth. 2002 Sep;89(3):459-65. doi: 10.1093/bja/aef217.
• Hess PE, Pratt SD, Lucas TP, Miller CG, Corbett T, Oriol N, Sarna MC. Predictors of breakthrough pain during labor epidural analgesia. Anesth Analg. 2001 Aug;93(2):414-8, 4th contents page. doi: 10.1097/00000539-200108000-00036.
• American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Obstetric Anesthesia. Practice guidelines for obstetric anesthesia: an updated report by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Obstetric Anesthesia. Anesthesiology. 2007 Apr;106(4):843-63. doi: 10.1097/01.anes.0000264744.63275.10. No abstract available.
• Halpern SH, Carvalho B. Patient-controlled epidural analgesia for labor. Anesth Analg. 2009 Mar;108(3):921-8. doi: 10.1213/ane.0b013e3181951a7f.
• Stratmann G, Gambling DR, Moeller-Bertram T, Stackpole J, Pue AF, Berkowitz J. A randomized comparison of a five-minute versus fifteen-minute lockout interval for PCEA during labor. Int J Obstet Anesth. 2005 Jul;14(3):200-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ijoa.2004.12.008.
• Sia AT, Lim Y, Ocampo CE. Computer-integrated patient-controlled epidural analgesia: a preliminary study on a novel approach of providing pain relief in labour. Singapore Med J. 2006 Nov;47(11):951-6.
• Sng BL, Sia AT, Lim Y, Woo D, Ocampo C. Comparison of computer-integrated patient-controlled epidural analgesia and patient-controlled epidural analgesia with a basal infusion for labour and delivery. Anaesth Intensive Care. 2009 Jan;37(1):46-53. doi: 10.1177/0310057X0903700119.
• Capogna G, Celleno D, Lyons G, Columb M, Fusco P. Minimum local analgesic concentration of extradural bupivacaine increases with progression of labour. Br J Anaesth. 1998 Jan;80(1):11-3. doi: 10.1093/bja/80.1.11.
• Capogna G, Stirparo S. Techniques for the maintenance of epidural labor analgesia. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2013 Jun;26(3):261-7. doi: 10.1097/ACO.0b013e328360b069.
• Goodman SR, Smiley RM, Negron MA, Freedman PA, Landau R. A randomized trial of breakthrough pain during combined spinal-epidural versus epidural labor analgesia in parous women. Anesth Analg. 2009 Jan;108(1):246-51. doi: 10.1213/ane.0b013e31818f896f.
• Boogmans T, Vertommen J, Valkenborgh T, Devroe S, Roofthooft E, Van de Velde M. Epidural neostigmine and clonidine improves the quality of combined spinal epidural analgesia in labour: a randomised, double-blind controlled trial. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2014 Apr;31(4):190-6. doi: 10.1097/EJA.0b013e32836249e9.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 1, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): August 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 9, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 10, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): May 11, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 10, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 9, 2017
• Last Verified: August 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2014-004696-24

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Yes