Table 2.

Anaesthetic outcomes, maternal and foetal outcomes

	Needle group (n = 100)	Catheter group (n = 99)	P value
Onset time to VAS ≤10 (min)	20 [16 to 30]	20 [15 to 25]	0.232
No. of patients VAS ≤10 mm at 30 min	81 (81)	89 (89.9)	0.075
No. of patients VAS ≤30 mm at 30m in	95 (95)	95 (96.0)	1.000
Onset time to T10 (min)	8 [6 to 10]	8 [6 to 11]	0.118
Sensory block level at 30 min			0.836
T12	1 (1.0)	1 (1.0)
T10	2 (2.0)	1 (1.0)
T8	77 (77.0)	79 (79.8)
T6	18 (18.0)	14 (14.1)
T4	2 (2.0)	4 (4.0)
Incidence of breakthrough pain	6 (6)	7 (7.1)	0.760
Analgesia time of the first stage (h)	4.87 [3.1 to 7.3]	5.35 [3.0 to 8.0]	0.462
Total anaesthesia time (h)	5.47 [3.9 to 8.2]	6.07 [4.0 to 8.3]	0.180
Total ropivacaine consumption (mg)	42.0 [27.5 to 60.0]	46.0 [31.0 to 71.0]	0.250
PCEA boluses requested	2 (0 to 3)	1 (0 to 3)	0.968
PCEA boluses delivered	1 (0 to 2)	1 (0 to 2)	0.927
Mode of delivery			0.136
Vaginal delivery	57 (57)	69 (69.7)
Instrumental delivery	16 (16)	15 (15.2)
Caesarean delivery	27 (27)	15 ((15.2))
Apgar score at 1 min			1.000
<8	3 (3)	3 (3.0)
9 to 10	97 (97)	96 (97.0)
Apgar score at 5 min			0.497
<8	0 (0)	1 (1.0)
9 to 10	100 (100)	98 (99.0)
Patient satisfaction VAS score	98 [95 to 100]	98 [92 to 100]	0.765

Data are median [IQR], n (%). PCEA, patient-controlled epidural analgesia; VAS, visual analogue scale.