Failing Epidural Analgesia During Labor

NCT07473609 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: FEA25Contract # 25/26
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 500
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

This prospective multicenter observational study is being conducted at the Gregorio Marañón University General Hospital and the La Paz University Hospital in Madrid, Spain. The recruitment period began on January 12, 2026, and will continue until February 12, 2027. Patients over 18 years of age requesting epidural analgesia for labor are included. Exclusion criteria are: age under 18; stillbirth; continuous spinal anesthesia; refusal to participate in the study. The primary objective of the study is to calculate the incidence of epidural analgesia failure during labor. Secondary objectives are: identification of potential risk factors for epidural analgesia failure; failure of epidural anesthesia for emergency cesarean birth; maternal postpartum recovery at 24 and 48 hours using the Spanish-validated version of ObsQoR-10 questionnaire.

Conditions

Failed Epidural Analgesia; Post-partum Recovery

Keywords

Labor analgesia; intrapartum cesarean delivery; failed epidural analgesia; breakthrough pain; epidural catheter re-siting; ObsQoR-10

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Failed epidural analgesia during labor

  Persistence of pain 20 minutes after one top-up bolus of local anesthetic administered by the anesthesiologist, in a previously working epidural analgesia.

  All duration of labour (from admission to labour ward until delivery) in patients with an initial adequate pain relief after epidural analgesia initiation.

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Failed onset of epidural block

  An incomplete or inefficient block 30 minutes after initiation of epidural analgesia will be considered as a failed onset.

• Failed conversion of epidural analgesia to anesthesia for intrapartum cesarean birth

  In subpopulation of patients with an intrapartum cesarean delivery, failed conversion will be considered for any requirement for intravenous supplementation or general anaesthesia during caesarean delivery.

• Maternal recovery until 48h postpartum

  On postpartum day 1 (24h after delivery) and day 2 (48h after delivery), during post-partum anaesthesia visit, the participants will answer the 10-Items Obstetric Quality of Recovery scoring tool (ObsQoR-10).

Study Arms (1)

Labor Epidural Analgesia

Inclusion criteria: all consecutive patients in labor who request epidural analgesia for labor analgesia in the period of recruitment. Exclusion criteria: parturient age under 18 years; stillbirth; continuous spinal anesthesia; refusal to participate

Other: No Intervention: Observational Cohort

Interventions

No Intervention: Observational Cohort OTHER

No intervention: observational study

Labor Epidural Analgesia

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Cohort of consecutive consenting patients admitted in the labor ward for delivery of two tertiary university hospitals in Madrid-Spain for a period of 1 month, which each center chooses throughout 2026.

You may qualify if:

• Parturient who requests epidural analgesia for labor

You may not qualify if:

• Age under 18 years
• Stillbirth
• Continuous spinal anesthesia
• Refusal to participate

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Nicolas Brogly: lead

Study Sites (2)

Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón

Madrid, 28007, Spain

RECRUITING

Hospital Universitario La Paz

Madrid, Spain

NOT YET RECRUITING

Related Publications (30)

• Russell I. Technique of anaesthesia for caesarean section. In: Colvin J, editor. Raising the Standard: A Compendium of Audit Recipes for Continuous Quality Improvement in Anaesthesia. 2nd ed. London: RCA; 2006. p. 166-7.

  BACKGROUND

• Hermanides J, Hollmann MW, Stevens MF, Lirk P. Failed epidural: causes and management. Br J Anaesth. 2012 Aug;109(2):144-54. doi: 10.1093/bja/aes214. Epub 2012 Jun 26.

  PMID: 22735301 BACKGROUND

• Ministerio de Sanidad. Atención perinatal en España: Análisis de los recursos físicos, humanos, actividad y calidad de los servicios hospitalarios, 2010-2018 [Publicación en Internet]. Madrid. Ministerio de Sanidad, 2021.

  BACKGROUND

• WFSA recommendations: Declaration on Labour Analgesia: A Call for Global Access to Pain Relief During Childbirth; 2025. https://wfsahq.org/our-work/advocacy/campaigns/labour-analgesia-campaign/

  BACKGROUND

• Braithwaite J, Herkes J, Ludlow K, Testa L, Lamprell G. Association between organisational and workplace cultures, and patient outcomes: systematic review. BMJ Open. 2017 Nov 8;7(11):e017708. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017708.

  PMID: 29122796 BACKGROUND

• Guevara J, Sanchez C, Organista-Montano J, Domingue BW, Guo N, Sultan P. Development and validation of a Spanish version of the Obstetric Quality of Recovery-10 item score (ObsQoR-10-Spanish). BJA Open. 2024 Mar 21;10:100269. doi: 10.1016/j.bjao.2024.100269. eCollection 2024 Jun.

  PMID: 38560622 BACKGROUND

• Sultan P, George R, Weiniger CF, El-Boghdadly K, Pandal P, Carvalho B; CRADLE Study Investigators. Expert Consensus Regarding Core Outcomes for Enhanced Recovery after Cesarean Delivery Studies: A Delphi Study. Anesthesiology. 2022 Aug 1;137(2):201-211. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000004263.

  PMID: 35511169 BACKGROUND

• Handelzalts JE, Levy S, Krissi H, Peled Y. Epidural analgesia associations with depression, PTSD, and bonding at 2 months postpartum. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 2022 Dec;43(4):488-494. doi: 10.1080/0167482X.2022.2081146. Epub 2022 Jun 28.

  PMID: 35762178 BACKGROUND

• Ghanbari-Homaie S, Jenani SP, Faraji-Gavgani L, Hosenzadeh P, Rezaei M. Association between epidural analgesia and postpartum psychiatric disorders: A meta-analysis. Heliyon. 2024 Mar 8;10(6):e27717. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27717. eCollection 2024 Mar 30.

  PMID: 38524559 BACKGROUND

• Hernandez-Martinez A, Rodriguez-Almagro J, Molina-Alarcon M, Infante-Torres N, Rubio-Alvarez A, Martinez-Galiano JM. Perinatal factors related to post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms 1-5 years following birth. Women Birth. 2020 Mar;33(2):e129-e135. doi: 10.1016/j.wombi.2019.03.008. Epub 2019 Apr 4.

  PMID: 30954482 BACKGROUND

• Hernandez-Martinez A, Rodriguez-Almagro J, Molina-Alarcon M, Infante-Torres N, Donate Manzanares M, Martinez-Galiano JM. Postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder: Associated perinatal factors and quality of life. J Affect Disord. 2019 Apr 15;249:143-150. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.01.042. Epub 2019 Feb 10.

  PMID: 30772741 BACKGROUND

• Gastaldon C, Solmi M, Correll CU, Barbui C, Schoretsanitis G. Risk factors of postpartum depression and depressive symptoms: umbrella review of current evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies. Br J Psychiatry. 2022 Oct;221(4):591-602. doi: 10.1192/bjp.2021.222.

  PMID: 35081993 BACKGROUND

• Orbach-Zinger S, Heesen M, Grigoriadis S, Heesen P, Halpern S. A systematic review of the association between postpartum depression and neuraxial labor analgesia. Int J Obstet Anesth. 2021 Feb;45:142-149. doi: 10.1016/j.ijoa.2020.10.004. Epub 2020 Oct 17.

  PMID: 33221120 BACKGROUND

• Li B, Tang X, Wang T. Neuraxial analgesia during labor and postpartum depression: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2023 Feb 22;102(8):e33039. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000033039.

  PMID: 36827052 BACKGROUND

• Mo J, Ning Z, Wang X, Lv F, Feng J, Pan L. Association between perinatal pain and postpartum depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord. 2022 Sep 1;312:92-99. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.06.010. Epub 2022 Jun 15.

  PMID: 35716784 BACKGROUND

• Stav MY, Fein S, Matatov Y, Hoffman D, Heesen P, Binyamin Y, Iluz-Freundlich D, Eidelman L, Orbach-Zinger S. Conversion to general anesthesia and intravenous supplementation during intrapartum cesarean delivery with an indwelling epidural catheter: a retrospective study. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2025 Nov 5;50(11):873-878. doi: 10.1136/rapm-2024-105388.

  PMID: 39004441 BACKGROUND

• Grap SM, Patel GR, Huang J, Vaida SJ. Risk factors for labor epidural conversion failure requiring general anesthesia for cesarean delivery. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol. 2022 Jan-Mar;38(1):118-123. doi: 10.4103/joacp.JOACP_192_20. Epub 2021 Oct 13.

  PMID: 35706622 BACKGROUND

• Brogly N, Valbuena Gomez I, Afshari A, Ekelund K, Kranke P, Weiniger CF, Lucas N, Dewandre PY, Guasch Arevalo E, Ioscovich A, Kollmann A, Lindelof K, Orbach-Zinger S, Reis S, van den Bosch O, Van de Velde M, Romero CS. ESAIC focused guidelines for the management of the failing epidural during labour epidural analgesia. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2025 Feb 1;42(2):96-112. doi: 10.1097/EJA.0000000000002108. Epub 2025 Jan 2.

  PMID: 39744744 BACKGROUND

• Berger AA, Jordan J, Li Y, Kowalczyk JJ, Hess PE. Epidural catheter replacement rates with dural puncture epidural labor analgesia compared with epidural analgesia without dural puncture: a retrospective cohort study. Int J Obstet Anesth. 2022 Nov;52:103590. doi: 10.1016/j.ijoa.2022.103590. Epub 2022 Aug 2.

  PMID: 36030558 BACKGROUND

• Wang L, Huang J, Chang X, Xia F. Effects of different neuraxial analgesia modalities on the need for physician interventions in labour: A network meta-analysis. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2024 Jun 1;41(6):411-420. doi: 10.1097/EJA.0000000000001986. Epub 2024 Mar 28.

  PMID: 38546832 BACKGROUND

• Tan HS, Zeng Y, Qi Y, Sultana R, Tan CW, Sia AT, Sng BL, Siddiqui FJ. Automated mandatory bolus versus basal infusion for maintenance of epidural analgesia in labour. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2023 Jun 5;6(6):CD011344. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011344.pub3.

  PMID: 37276327 BACKGROUND

• Tan HS, Liu N, Tan CW, Sia ATH, Sng BL. Developing the BreakThrough Pain Risk Score: an interpretable machine-learning-based risk score to predict breakthrough pain with labour epidural analgesia. Can J Anaesth. 2022 Oct;69(10):1315-1317. doi: 10.1007/s12630-022-02294-1. Epub 2022 Aug 5. No abstract available.

  PMID: 35931944 BACKGROUND

• Tan HS, Liu N, Sultana R, Han NR, Tan CW, Zhang J, Sia ATH, Sng BL. Prediction of breakthrough pain during labour neuraxial analgesia: comparison of machine learning and multivariable regression approaches. Int J Obstet Anesth. 2021 Feb;45:99-110. doi: 10.1016/j.ijoa.2020.08.010. Epub 2020 Aug 25.

  PMID: 33121883 BACKGROUND

• Guasch E, Iannuccelli F, Brogly N, Gilsanz F. Failed epidural for labor: what now? Minerva Anestesiol. 2017 Nov;83(11):1207-1213. doi: 10.23736/S0375-9393.17.12082-1. Epub 2017 Jun 12.

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• Bucstain C, Garmi G, Zafran N, Zuarez-Easton S, Carmeli J, Salim R. Risk factors and peripartum outcomes of failed epidural: a prospective cohort study. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2017 May;295(5):1119-1125. doi: 10.1007/s00404-017-4337-5. Epub 2017 Mar 10.

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• Rajagopalan S, Shah K, Guffey D, Tran C, Suresh M, Wali A. Predictors of difficult epidural placement in pregnant women: A trainees' perspective. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol. 2019 Oct-Dec;35(4):548-552. doi: 10.4103/joacp.JOACP_340_18.

  PMID: 31920244 BACKGROUND

• Agaram R, Douglas MJ, McTaggart RA, Gunka V. Inadequate pain relief with labor epidurals: a multivariate analysis of associated factors. Int J Obstet Anesth. 2009 Jan;18(1):10-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ijoa.2007.10.008. Epub 2008 Nov 28.

  PMID: 19046867 BACKGROUND

• Thangamuthu A, Russell IF, Purva M. Epidural failure rate using a standardised definition. Int J Obstet Anesth. 2013 Nov;22(4):310-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ijoa.2013.04.013. Epub 2013 Aug 6.

  PMID: 23932551 BACKGROUND

• Ezeonu PO, Anozie OB, Onu FA, Esike CU, Mamah JE, Lawani LO, Onoh RC, Ndukwe EO, Ewah RL, Anozie RO. Perceptions and practice of epidural analgesia among women attending antenatal clinic in FETHA. Int J Womens Health. 2017 Dec 12;9:905-911. doi: 10.2147/IJWH.S144953. eCollection 2017.

  PMID: 29276414 BACKGROUND

• Sisman Y, Ekelund K, Strandbygaard J. [Failed epidural analgesia during birth]. Ugeskr Laeger. 2019 Apr 15;181(16):V09180650. Danish.

  PMID: 31036152 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Breakthrough Pain

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Central Study Contacts

Nicolas Brogly, MD, PhD

CONTACT

+34 663676820; nicolas.brogly@salud.madrid.org

Francisco Galván-Román, MD

CONTACT

+34 691246504; franciscojesus.galvan@salud.madrid.org

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Target Duration: 2 Days
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Coordinator of failing epidural Investigation

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 24, 2026
• First Posted: March 16, 2026
• Study Start: January 12, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 12, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 12, 2027
• Last Updated: March 16, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

ES (2)