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Metas de Enfermería

Metas de Enfermería

DICIEMBRE 2015 N° 10 Volumen 18

The influence of epidural anaesthesia on intrapartum fever

Section: Featured Articles

How to quote

Castro Menéndez A, López Medina MD, López Araque AB, Rodríguez Castilla F. Influencia de la analgesia epidural en la aparición de la fiebre intraparto. Metas Enferm dic 2015/ene 2016; 18(10): 56-61.

Authors

1Angélica Castro Menéndez, 2Mª Dolores López Medina, 3Ana Belén López Araque, 4Francisco Rodríguez Castilla

Position

2Matrona. Máster en Gerontología Social: Longevidad, Salud y Calidad de vida.3Enfermera. Máster en Investigación e Innovación en Salud, Cuidados y Calidad de vida. Hospital de Valdepeñas, Ciudad Real.4Matrón. Unidad de Gestión Clínica (UGC)de Obstetricia y Ginecología. Complejo Hospitalario de Jaén.

Contact address

Francisco Rodríguez Castilla. Complejo Hospitalario de Jaén. Servicio de Partos. Avda. Ejército Español, 10. 23007 Jaén.

Contact email: pacomatro04@yahoo.es

Abstract

use of epidural anaesthesia during labor, and its relationship with the development of fever during this stage,
Method: an integrative review on the bibliography of quantitative studies in the most relevant databases, both in English and in Spanish: Pubmed, Scopus, CINHAL, Cuiden, Embase, Medline and Cochrane Library. Analytical and descriptive studies published between 1985 and 2013 were included. The studies were assessed using the standard Joanna Briggs Institute’s Critical Appraisal Tool (JBI-QARI).
Results: thirteen (13) studies in total were included. The majority seem to demonstrate that there is a clear relationship between the development of an increase in maternal body temperature and the insertion of the catheter and administration of epidural anaesthesia. Studies might lead to think that fever is caused by the association with epidural anaesthesia, when in fact other potential causes are being left out, such as labor duration, water breaking, number of pelvic examinations, or nulliparity of the mother. Moreover, the potential pyretic factors caused by the different drugs used for analgesia should also be taken into account.
Conclusions: the use of an epidural catheter during labor will favour the increase in maternal temperature; but due to the high number of factors involved in the dilation process, it is necessary to conduct randomized clinical trials in our setting in order to study the real association with the increase in the body temperature of the mother, differentiating between all the potential risk factors, in order to analyze the real impact of this type of anaesthesia on fever mechanisms.

Keywords:

epidural anaesthesia; fever; labor; narrative review

Versión en Español

Título:

Influencia de la analgesia epidural en la aparición de la fiebre intraparto