Anesthesiology Research and Practice

Clinical Study

Comparison of Spinal Block Levels between Laboring and Nonlaboring Parturients Using Combined Spinal Epidural Technique with Intrathecal Plain Bupivacaine

Table 2

Block characteristics 20 minutes after intrathecal injection.


Block characteristics	Group NL	Group L	value
Block characteristics	()	()	value

Median sensory blockade level to cold	T6 (T4–T6)^a	T5 (T4–T6)^a	0.46
Time to achieve cold blockade level (minutes)	10.9 (2.1)^b	10.7 (2.3)^b	0.83
Median sensory blockade level to pinprick	T7 (T6–T8)^a	T7 (T7-T8)^a	0.35
Time to achieve pinprick blockade level (minutes)	11.2 (2.2)^b	10.5 (2.6)^b	0.36
Motor block grade	3 (3-4)^a	3 (3-4)^a	0.85
Time to achieve motor block (minutes)	8.0 (2.5)^b	7.7 (2.6)^b	0.42
Phenylephrine (μg)	0 (0–100)^a	0 (0-0)^a	>0.99
Maximal decrease of SBP (mmHg)	23.2 (13.2)^b	34.6 (9.2)^b	0.03
Hypotension	8 (32%)^c	5 (20%)^c	0.52
Shivering	5 (20%)^c	12 (48%)^c	0.07
Nausea and vomiting	3 (12%)^c	1 (4%)^c	0.61

^a Results are expressed as the median (interquartile range); ^bresults are expressed as the mean (SD); ^cresults are expressed as the number of parturients (percent).