Li Zhang1, Jove H Graham2, Wen Feng3, Meredith W Lewis3, Xiaopeng Zhang4, H Lester Kirchner5. 1. Division of Anesthesiology, Geisinger Health System, Danville, PA, USA. lzhang1@geisinger.edu. 2. Center for Health Research, Geisinger Health System, Danville, PA, USA. jhgraham1@geisinger.edu. 3. Center for Health Research, Geisinger Health System, Danville, PA, USA. 4. Division of Anesthesiology, Geisinger Health System, Danville, PA, USA. 5. Biomedical and Translational Informatics, Geisinger Health System, Danville, PA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Some pregnant women avoid labor epidural analgesia because of their concerns about risk of cerebral palsy in children. Although it is believed that labor epidural does not contribute to cerebral palsy, to our knowledge no study has been published to specifically address this concern. We carried out a retrospective case-control study to investigate whether labor epidural analgesia is associated with cerebral palsy in children. METHODS: This study used data that were collected and entered into the Geisinger electronic health records between January 2004 and January 2013. During this period, 20,929 children were born at Geisinger hospitals. Among them, 50 children were diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and 20 of those were born vaginally. Each of these 20 cerebral palsy children was matched with up to 5 non-cerebral palsy children born at the same hospitals in the same timeframe using propensity scoring methods. Analgesia was classified as epidural (including epidural or combined spinal and epidural) or non-epidural. Conditional logistic regression was used to compare the percentages of deliveries with each analgesia type between the cerebral palsy and non-cerebral palsy groups. RESULTS: In the non-cerebral palsy group, the percentage of patients receiving labor epidural analgesia was 72 %, and in the cerebral palsy group the percentage was 45 %. There was no significant difference between non-cerebral palsy and cerebral palsy groups (odds ratio, 0.57; 95 % confidence interval, 0.14-2.24; p = 0.42). CONCLUSION: We found no association between the use of labor epidural analgesia and the occurrence of cerebral palsy in children.
BACKGROUND: Some pregnant women avoid labor epidural analgesia because of their concerns about risk of cerebral palsy in children. Although it is believed that labor epidural does not contribute to cerebral palsy, to our knowledge no study has been published to specifically address this concern. We carried out a retrospective case-control study to investigate whether labor epidural analgesia is associated with cerebral palsy in children. METHODS: This study used data that were collected and entered into the Geisinger electronic health records between January 2004 and January 2013. During this period, 20,929 children were born at Geisinger hospitals. Among them, 50 children were diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and 20 of those were born vaginally. Each of these 20 cerebral palsychildren was matched with up to 5 non-cerebral palsychildren born at the same hospitals in the same timeframe using propensity scoring methods. Analgesia was classified as epidural (including epidural or combined spinal and epidural) or non-epidural. Conditional logistic regression was used to compare the percentages of deliveries with each analgesia type between the cerebral palsy and non-cerebral palsy groups. RESULTS: In the non-cerebral palsy group, the percentage of patients receiving labor epidural analgesia was 72 %, and in the cerebral palsy group the percentage was 45 %. There was no significant difference between non-cerebral palsy and cerebral palsy groups (odds ratio, 0.57; 95 % confidence interval, 0.14-2.24; p = 0.42). CONCLUSION: We found no association between the use of labor epidural analgesia and the occurrence of cerebral palsy in children.
Entities:
Keywords:
Cerebral palsy; Epidural analgesia; Labor and delivery; Neurological disorder
Authors: Russell S Kirby; Martha S Wingate; Kim Van Naarden Braun; Nancy S Doernberg; Carrie L Arneson; Ruth E Benedict; Beverly Mulvihill; Maureen S Durkin; Robert T Fitzgerald; Matthew J Maenner; Jean A Patz; Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp Journal: Res Dev Disabil Date: 2011-01-26
Authors: Martin Bax; Murray Goldstein; Peter Rosenbaum; Alan Leviton; Nigel Paneth; Bernard Dan; Bo Jacobsson; Diane Damiano Journal: Dev Med Child Neurol Date: 2005-08 Impact factor: 5.449
Authors: Yvonne W Wu; Lisa A Croen; Anthony R Torres; Judy Van De Water; Judith K Grether; Nathaniel N Hsu Journal: Ann Neurol Date: 2009-11 Impact factor: 10.422
Authors: Mary D Crisham Janik; Thomas B Newman; Yvonne W Cheng; Guibo Xing; William M Gilbert; Yvonne W Wu Journal: J Pediatr Date: 2013-08-06 Impact factor: 4.406