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Development of Variable Volume Automated Mandatory Boluses for Patient-controlled Epidural Analgesia During Labour

Development of Variable Volume Automated Mandatory Boluses (VVAMB) for Patient-controlled Epidural Analgesia During Labour and Delivery

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04011150
Acronym
VVAMB
Enrollment
197
Registered
2019-07-08
Start date
2020-08-11
Completion date
2027-08-31
Last updated
2026-08-14

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Breakthrough Pain, Labor Pain

Keywords

Labor Pain, Breakthrough Pain, Infusion pump

Brief summary

A novel epidural delivery regimen was developed: Variable volume automated mandatory bolus (AMB) (VVAMB) will advance individualisation of labour epidural analgesia, by which a larger volume of bolus may contribute to better spread of the local anaesthetics within brief period and thereby reduces the chances of motor blockade that could reduce instrumental deliveries.

Detailed description

Epidural analgesia is the gold standard of pain relief for labour pain. Despite this, up to 50% of parturients continue to experience pain leading to suffering and increased caregiver workload. There is also higher risk of motor blockade found in those receiving epidural analgesia, and these factors is associated with dysfunctional labour requiring obstetric intervention (instrumental delivery). Automated mandatory bolus (AMB) of variable-frequency (VAMB) has been shown to provide better pain relief as compared with conventional patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) with basal infusion, however its long lockout time per hour is associated with unsuccessful patient bolus requests, with similar motor block to conventional regimens. The investigators therefore proposes to develop a novel epidural delivery regimen: Variable volume AMB (VVAMB) will advance individualisation of labour epidural analgesia, by which a larger volume of bolus may contribute to better spread of the local anaesthetics within brief period and thereby reduces the chances of motor blockade that could reduce instrumental deliveries. This algorithm development including pilot and clinical trial will compare VVAMB with VAMB regimens, in reducing the incidence of motor block in term women requesting for labour epidural analgesia.

Interventions

DEVICEEpidural infusion pump

Epidural delivery system for maintenance of labour epidural analgesia using 0.1% ropivacaine (amide local anaesthetic) with 2mcg/ml fentanyl (opioid) as maintenance solution.

DRUGRopivacaine

Epidural delivery system for maintenance of labour epidural analgesia using 0.1% ropivacaine (amide local anaesthetic) with 2mcg/ml fentanyl (opioid) as maintenance solution.

DRUGFentanyl

Epidural delivery system for maintenance of labour epidural analgesia using 0.1% ropivacaine (amide local anaesthetic) with 2mcg/ml fentanyl (opioid) as maintenance solution.

Sponsors

KK Women's and Children's Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER_GOV

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
21 Years to 50 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Healthy (American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status 1 and 2) primiparous parturient at term (≥36 weeks gestation); * Singleton fetus; * In early labor stage (cervical dilation ≤5cm); * Request labor epidural analgesia and able to administer combined spinal epidural analgesia (CSEA) according to protocol.

Exclusion criteria

* Non-cephalic fetal presentation; * Obstetric (e.g. pre-eclampsia, premature rupture of amniotic membranes for more than 48 hours, gestational diabetes on insulin, pregnancy-induced hypertension on medication) and uncontrolled medical (e.g. cardiac disease) complications; * Have contraindications to neuraxial blockade or have received parenteral opioids within last 2 hours; * Dural puncture/ suspected dural puncture at initiation of CSEA.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Incidence of motor block in each groupDuring labour (1 day)The number of event of motor block throughout the labour. Previous studies have shown that epidural analgesia using high concentrations of local anaesthetics could lead to decreased motor functions, and are subsequently associated with an increased incidence of instrumented delivery and longer second stage of labour. In this study, the intensity of motor block is assessed by the patient's ability to move their lower extremities via a modified Bromage scale. In the modified version, a scoring of 0 implies no motor block (Free movement of both legs and feet), scoring of 1 implies partial block (Just able to flex knees with free movement of feet), 2 implies almost complete block (Unable to flex knees but with free movement of feet) and 3 implies a full block (Unable to move legs/ feet).

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Number of subjects with Instrumental deliveryDuring labour (1 day)The number of subjects in each group having instrumental delivery (forceps, vacuum delivery)
Number of subjects with Breakthrough painDuring labour (1 day)The number of subjects in each group having unscheduled epidural supplementation by anaesthetist due to labor pain
APGAR scoreAfter delivery (1 day)The Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration (APGAR) score is a test given to newborns soon after birth. In the test, five are being evaluated: Appearance (skin color), Pulse (heart rate), Grimace response (reflexes), Activity (muscle tone) and Respiration (breathing rate and effort). Each is scored on a scale of 0 to 2, with 2 being the best score; a total score of ten represents the best possible condition.
The incidence of postnatal depression in both groups6-10 weeks after delivery (1 day)Incidence of postnatal depression will be assessed via Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score at week 8 after delivery. EPDS is a 10-item self reporting scale to evaluate the postnatal depression. Participants are asked to respond according to how they have felt in the past seven days. Each item is measured on a 4-point scale (0-3), with a total score in the range of 0 to 30. A higher total score indicates a greater degree of depressive symptoms. A score of 10 and above indicates clinically significant depressive symptoms.

Countries

Singapore

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORWan Ling Leong, FANZCA

KK Women's and Children's Hospital

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Aug 15, 2026