PATIENTS ASSESSMENT OF SENSORY LEVELS DURING EPIDURAL ANALGESIA IN LABOR

Thirty women in established labour and with epidurals in situ were ask ed to assess the sensory level of the epidural using loss of light tou ch sensation with their own finger. This dermatomal level was then com pared to the sensory level assessed by an anaesthetist using loss of c old sensation with ethyl chloride spray. A total of 88 assessments wer e made. The mean dermatomal difference was 0.20 and 95% of the differe nces lay between 3.5 and -3.1 dermatomes. This large variation in derm atomal differences between the two methods of sensory assessment means that patient light touch is not an acceptable method of assessing epi dural sensory level when compared to ethyl chloride.