根據一項麻醉學研究人員的最新研究發現：在分娩早期聯合使用脊髓－硬腦膜外麻醉并不會增加剖腹產的比例。

這就意味著在將來，可以給分娩婦女進行更早期的止痛治療，特別是第一次生產的母親。研究結果還顯示：與其它用藥途徑比如靜脈內注射或者肌肉內注射相比較，聯合使用脊髓－硬膜外技術能夠產生更好的止痛效果并縮短分娩時間。

這項研究結果發表在2005年2月17日的《新英格蘭醫學期刊》上。這項研究的首席作者是Cynthia A. Wong醫生，西北大學Feinberg醫學院(Chicago, IL, USA)的麻醉學副教授。

由麻醉師實施的硬膜外或者聯合使用脊髓－硬膜外麻醉阻斷疼痛，主要是通過麻醉脊髓間隙內包繞脊髓的神經來完成的。僅僅在美國每年就有超過1500000患者接受脊髓或者脊髓－硬膜外聯合麻醉方法。
 
Early Epidural for Women in Labor
 
Combined spinal-epidural analgesia during early labor does not increase the rate of cesarean delivery, according to a new study by anesthesiologists.

This means that in the future, pain relief may be available earlier for women in labor, especially for first-time mothers. The results of the study also showed that analgesia via the combined spinal-epidural technique resulted in better pain relief and a shorter labor when compared to pain medications administered by other routes such as intravenous or intramuscular injections.

The study findings were published in the February 17, 2005, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. Lead author of the study was Cynthia A. Wong, M.D., associate professor of anesthesiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Chicago, IL, USA).

Epidural or combined spinal-epidural analgesia administered by anesthesiologists blocks pain by numbing the nerves around the epidural space that encases the spinal cord. Epidural or combined spinal-epidural analgesia is administered to more than 1.5 million each year in the United States alone.