BACKGROUND: Epidural analgesia is associated with an increased rate of fever in prospective randomized trials. While the evidence suggests that epidural fever is not infectious, epidural analgesia has been associated with increased rates of antibiotic use, the indications that prompt treatment have not been examined. METHODS: We analyzed 1235 nulliparous women with singleton term pregnancies presenting in labor with a temperature of < 99.5 degrees F. Antibiotic use during labor was categorized by indication. RESULTS: A total of 59.6% of women received epidural analgesia. The rate of antibiotic use was significantly higher in women receiving epidural analgesia (28 vs 10.8%). After adjusting for confounders using logistic regression, epidural analgesia was associated with a relative risk of 2.6 (95% CI 2.0, 3.4) for antibiotic treatment. The majority of the increased risk was due to significantly higher rates of antibiotic treatment for presumed chorioamnionitis (9.0 vs 0.4%) in the epidural analgesia group. CONCLUSION: Epidural-related fever results in excess maternal antibiotic treatment for presumed chorioamnionitis.
BACKGROUND: Epidural analgesia is associated with an increased rate of fever in prospective randomized trials. While the evidence suggests that epidural fever is not infectious, epidural analgesia has been associated with increased rates of antibiotic use, the indications that prompt treatment have not been examined. METHODS: We analyzed 1235 nulliparous women with singleton term pregnancies presenting in labor with a temperature of < 99.5 degrees F. Antibiotic use during labor was categorized by indication. RESULTS: A total of 59.6% of women received epidural analgesia. The rate of antibiotic use was significantly higher in women receiving epidural analgesia (28 vs 10.8%). After adjusting for confounders using logistic regression, epidural analgesia was associated with a relative risk of 2.6 (95% CI 2.0, 3.4) for antibiotic treatment. The majority of the increased risk was due to significantly higher rates of antibiotic treatment for presumed chorioamnionitis (9.0 vs 0.4%) in the epidural analgesia group. CONCLUSION: Epidural-related fever results in excess maternal antibiotic treatment for presumed chorioamnionitis.
Authors: Roberto Romero; Jezid Miranda; Juan P Kusanovic; Tinnakorn Chaiworapongsa; Piya Chaemsaithong; Alicia Martinez; Francesca Gotsch; Zhong Dong; Ahmed I Ahmed; Majid Shaman; Kia Lannaman; Bo Hyun Yoon; Sonia S Hassan; Chong J Kim; Steven J Korzeniewski; Lami Yeo; Yeon Mee Kim Journal: J Perinat Med Date: 2015-01 Impact factor: 1.901
Authors: Roberto Romero; Piya Chaemsaithong; Steven J Korzeniewski; Juan P Kusanovic; Nikolina Docheva; Alicia Martinez-Varea; Ahmed I Ahmed; Bo Hyun Yoon; Sonia S Hassan; Tinnakorn Chaiworapongsa; Lami Yeo Journal: J Perinat Med Date: 2016-01 Impact factor: 1.901
Authors: Roberto Romero; Percy Pacora; Juan Pedro Kusanovic; Eunjung Jung; Bogdan Panaitescu; Eli Maymon; Offer Erez; Susan Berman; David R Bryant; Nardhy Gomez-Lopez; Kevin R Theis; Gaurav Bhatti; Chong Jai Kim; Bo Hyun Yoon; Sonia S Hassan; Chaur-Dong Hsu; Lami Yeo; Ramiro Diaz-Primera; Julio Marin-Concha; Kia Lannaman; Ali Alhousseini; Hunter Gomez-Roberts; Aneesha Varrey; Angel Garcia-Sanchez; Maria Teresa Gervasi Journal: J Perinat Med Date: 2021-01-26 Impact factor: 2.716