EPIDURAL-ANESTHESIA AND NEURAL-TUBE DEFECTS

This is a retrospective record of the analgesic management during labo ur of 16 patients with spina bifida seen at Leicester Royal Infirmary Maternity Hospital between March 1994 and February 1996. The informati on highlights the potential difficulties in providing epidural analges ia for this patient group, and demonstrates how an antenatal pre-anaes thetic clinic can help to optimize pain management by providing the op portunity to formulate a realistic analgesic plan, which can be docume nted in the notes.