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Clinical Trials/NCT00565383
NCT00565383
Completed
Not Applicable

The Effect of Combined Spinal-Epidural Analgesia on the Success of External Cephalic Version for Breech Position

Northwestern University1 site in 1 country101 target enrollmentAugust 2002

Overview

Phase
Not Applicable
Intervention
Not specified
Conditions
Pregnancy
Sponsor
Northwestern University
Enrollment
101
Locations
1
Primary Endpoint
Does combined spinal-epidural analgesia improve the success rate of external cephalic version?
Status
Completed
Last Updated
12 years ago

Overview

Brief Summary

We aim to answer the clinical question: Does combined spinal-epidural analgesia improve the success rate of external cephalic version? We hypothesize that neuraxial analgesia (spinal or epidural analgesia) during version for breech presentation increases successful fetal rotation and decreases the incidence of Cesarean delivery for malpresentation.

Detailed Description

At term 2 to 3% of singleton pregnancies are in breech presentation. Many of these deliveries are managed by cesarean delivery due to higher neonatal morbidity associated with vaginal breech delivery. Cesarean delivery, the safer option for the baby, however, is associated with a higher incidence of maternal complications for both the current and subsequent pregnancies. External cephalic version is a procedure commonly used to attempt to manually rotate the fetus into vertex position. This facilitates vaginal delivery and thus avoids higher maternal and/or neonatal complications. Obstetricians perform versions after 36 weeks gestational age with a reportable success rate of 30-80%. The most common technique involves external manipulation of the fetal position preceded by pharmacologic uterine relaxation. Pain relief is most commonly provided in the form of intravenous opioids such as fentanyl. A more efficacious form of analgesia is the use of neuraxial opioids and local anesthetics (neuraxial analgesia), a technique commonly used for labor and delivery analgesia. Although the use of neuraxial analgesia and anesthesia techniques improve maternal pain and satisfaction, there is conflicting evidence if they improve the success rate of version procedures. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has stated, "Currently there is not enough evidence to make a recommendation favoring or opposing anesthesia during ECV (external cephalic version) attempts." We propose to conduct a prospective, single blinded, randomized clinical trial to assess the impact of combined spinal-epidural analgesia on the success rate of external version for breech fetal position and the subsequent incidence of vaginal vs. Cesarean delivery as a secondary outcome.

Registry
clinicaltrials.gov
Start Date
August 2002
End Date
June 2006
Last Updated
12 years ago
Study Type
Interventional
Study Design
Parallel
Sex
Female

Investigators

Responsible Party
Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator

John Sullivan

John T. Sullivan M.D.

Northwestern University

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • 18-55 years of age
  • Breech Presentation
  • Greater than 36 Weeks gestation
  • Version Procedure

Exclusion Criteria

  • Under 18 or over 55 years of age

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Does combined spinal-epidural analgesia improve the success rate of external cephalic version?

Time Frame: Time between analgesia intervention for the version procedure and delivery

Secondary Outcomes

  • Mode of delivery(At delivery)
  • Maternal satisfaction(Between analgesic intervention and the completion of the version procedure)
  • Maternal Pain(Between analgesic intervention and termination of the version procedure)

Study Sites (1)

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