Dural Puncture with a 27-Gauge Whitacre Needle as Part of a Combined Spinal–Epidural Technique Does Not Improve Labor Epidural Catheter Function

Abstract

Dural puncture with a 27-gauge Whitacre needle without subarachnoid drug administration during combined spinal-epidural labor analgesia did not improve epidural labor analgesia quality or reduce catheter manipulation or replacement rate when compared with a traditional epidural technique.