Full-term pregnant women have higher lumbar epidural pressure than non-pregnant women: A preliminary report

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the lumbar epidural pressure of full-term pregnant women with that of non-pregnant women. The epidural pressure of 20 full-term pregnant women and 15 non-pregnant women was measured during epidural needle insertion in the lateral position (T0), and at 30-s intervals following insertion (T1–T3), after the patient was turned supine (T4–T6), and after local anaesthetic injection (T7–T9). Results showed that the average epidural pressures following epidural insertion in the lateral position (average of T1–T3), in the supine position (average of T4–T6), and after local anaesthetic injection (average of T7–T9) were all significantly higher in the pregnant women compared with those who were not pregnant (p= 0.0293, 0.0109 and 0.0309, respectively). Epidural pressures increased significantly after women were turned supine (p < 0.001). Average epidural pressures were positive for all time points, T0–T9. It was concluded that the epidural pressure in the pregnant women was higher than in those who were not pregnant, both in the lateral and the supine position.

Keywords::

• Epidural space
• pregnancy
• pressures

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.