Efficacy and safety of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation as an adjunct to epidural labor analgesia.

BACKGROUND

Epidural analgesia (EA) is a commonly employed and effective technique of providing pain relief during labor. Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) is a cost-effective and safe non-pharmacological option for pain relief, but it has not previously been studied as an adjunct to EA. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of TEAS as an adjunctive therapy in patients undergoing epidural labor analgesia.

METHODS

In this study, 70 full-term primiparous women were randomly divided into two groups of 35. The TEAS group received true TEAS on specific acupoints, while the sham TEAS group received sham treatment. Both groups received a continuous epidural infusion of 0.1% ropivacaine and 0.5 μg/mL sufentanil at 10 mL/h for labor EA, with patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) boluses of 5 mL and a lockout interval of 15 minutes. The primary outcome was hourly mean consumption of the ropivacaine and sufentanil mixture.

RESULTS

The mean drug consumption per hour was significantly lower in the TEAS group compared to the sham TEAS group (9.5±0.6 mL/h vs. 11.3±1.3 mL/h, P<0.001). The requirement for oxytocin was also significantly lower in the TEAS group compared to the sham TEAS group (11.4% vs. 31.4%, P=0.041). The incidence of pruritus was lower in the TEAS group compared to the sham TEAS group (0.0% vs. 17.1%, P=0.033).

CONCLUSIONS

TEAS is a safe and effective non-pharmacological adjuvant for epidural labor analgesia.