• Kimberly L Musselwhite, Peter Faris, Katherine Moore, Dena Berci, and Kathryn M King.
• Calgary Health Region, Calgary, AB, Canada.
• Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 2007 May 1;196(5):472.e1-5.

ObjectiveWe aimed to examine the relationship between the use of epidural analgesia during labor and acute postpartum urinary retention.Study DesignA retrospective cohort study was conducted using 1994 labor and postpartum health records from 3 primary care centers.ResultsLogistic regression analysis revealed that a longer second stage of labor (odds ratio [OR] 2.62; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.41-4.85), use of systemic narcotics (OR 1.63; 95% CI 1.04-2.57), perineal laceration (OR 1.73; 95% CI 1.02-2.91), and instrumental delivery (OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.16-2.97) predicted urinary retention. There was a trend toward association of epidural analgesia and urinary retention (OR 1.69; 95% CI 0.98-2.92). Propensity score analysis revealed that any effect of epidural analgesia was likely due to effect modification of other obstetric variables.ConclusionEpidural analgesia during labor may increase the risk of developing urinary retention by up to 3 times. However, this effect is mediated by other obstetric variables.

17 keywords...

hide…