Technical and maternal outcomes
| 25 Gauge (n=67) | 27 Gauge (n=68) | P value | |
| Time to pain NRS ≤1 (min) | 9.1 (3.9) | 10.7 (5) | 0.037 95% CI (−3.16 to −0.10) |
| Time to bilateral S2 block (min) | 6.9 (4.1) | 7.1 (3.4) | 0.384 |
| Height of sensory block | T5 [T3–T11] | T6 [T3–T10] | 0.430 |
| Motor blockade | |||
| Bromage score | 0 [0–1] | 0 [0–1] | 0.552 |
| Presence of motor block | 2 (2.9) | 1 (1.4) | 0.641 |
| Intervertebral level | 0.641 | ||
| L2-L3 | 5 (7.5) | 5 (7.4) | – |
| L3-L4 | 58 (86.6) | 60 (88.2) | – |
| L4-L5 | 4 (6) | 3 (4.4) | – |
| Number of attempts | 1 [1-5] | 1 [1-4] | 0.127 |
| Performance time (min) | 9.1 (5.3) | 8.6 (4.5) | 0.657 |
| Accidental dural puncture | 0 | 0 | NS |
| Operator (staff/trainee) | 35/32 | 35/33 | 0.736 |
| Epidural catheter adjustment | 0 | 0 | NS |
| Epidural catheter replacement | 1 (1.5) | 2 (2.9) | >0.999 |
| Number of epidural top-ups | 2 [0–5] | 1.5 [0–7] | 0.251 |
| Mode of delivery | 0.219 | ||
| Vaginal | 44 (65.7) | 47 (69.1) | – |
| Instrumented | 2 (2.9) | 6 (8.8) | – |
| Cesarean | 21 (31.3) | 15(22) | – |
| Intravenous fluids (L) | 1.3 (0.5) | 1.3 (0.6) | 0.858 |
| DPEA adverse events | |||
| Nausea | 5 (7.5) | 4 (5.9) | 0.745 |
| Vomiting | 1 (1.5) | 2 (2.9) | >0.999 |
| Pruritus | 9 (13.4) | 10 (14.7) | 0.831 |
| Hypotension | 3 (4.5) | 2 (2.9) | 0.681 |
| DPEA complications (until 7 days) | |||
| Back pain | 14 (20.9) | 8 (11.8) | 0.165 |
| Motor deficit | 0 | 0 | NS |
| Paresthesia | 0 | 0 | NS |
| Postdural headache | 0 | 0 | NS |
Continuous variables (ie, performance and onset time, and intravenous fluids) are presented as mean (SD), ordinal variables (ie, Bromage score, number of attempts and number of epidural top-ups) are presented as median [range] while other variables are presented as count (%).
DPEA, dural puncture epidural analgesia; NRS, numeric rating scale; NS, non-significant.