Impacto de la implantación y desarrollo de la analgesia epidural administrada por la paciente para el tratamiento del dolor del parto. Encuesta en un hospital universitario en Chile

Objective: Analgesia for labor is a legal obligation in Chile. In our institution we implemented patient controlled analgesia for pain relief during labor. We describe the perception of the several professionals involved in the medical care of patients in labor in terms of effectiveness, usefulness, satisfaction, and safety. Material and methods: A self-reported questionnaire was given to the professionals involved, and the obstetrical and neonatal outcomes were recorded along with the workload indices. Twenty-five structured questions were presented with a Likert type score to evaluate analgesia quality, workload of professionals involved, adverse effects, patient satisfaction, and healthcare workers satisfaction. Finally, a question was asked about the overall perception. Results: We found that the overall perception of the analgesic technique was (mean) 6.0 (SD) (0.88). A decrease in the anesthesiologist workload was observed, without affecting obstetric outcomes. Conclusion: Considering the study design limitations, absence of knowledge of economical impact, and the satisfaction level of patients under standard epidural analgesia, we recommend the patient controlled analgesia technique due to its good obstetric outcomes, general satisfaction and workload decrease.