title: Epidural analgesia and perinatal retinal haemorrhages.
abstract: The incidence and magnitude of retinal haemorrhages in a group of neonates delivered spontaneously (n = 50), whose mothers received epidural analgesia during labour, has been compared to those of a spontaneously delivered control group (n = 50) who received conventional analgesia. The second stage of labour was significantly longer in the epidural group (P less than 0.001), which contained a higher number of primiparas than did their controls. Still, a lower incidence of retinal haemorrhages was noted in the epidural group (P less than 0.01). The study indicates that epidural analgesia offers a certain degree of protection against perinatal retinal haemorrhages in the spontaneously delivered neonate.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000767:Anesthesia, Epidural; D000773:Anesthesia, Obstetrical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007747:Labor Stage, First; D007748:Labor Stage, Second; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D012166:Retinal Hemorrhage / Q000151:congenital*; D013997:Time Factors