Regional Analgesia Differential Sensory Block During Labor Epidural Analgesia: A Prospective Observational Study to Investigate the Relationship of Lower and Upper Sensory Block Levels to Cold, Pinprick, and Light Touch

( Can J Anesth . 2024;71(6):802–807. doi:10.1007/s12630-023-02638-5) The prevailing choice for mothers requesting pain management during labor and delivery is epidural analgesia (EA). The use of a sensory block assessment is necessary to understand how the body is responding to the analgesia, both in an effort to ensure pain is effectively managed and the dose is not affecting the body adversely. Various assessment methods have been investigated, however, the use of a pragmatic bedside assessment by a clinician is the most favored. When anesthesia is used in preparation for a cesarean delivery, published data demonstrates that the use of either cold, pinprick, or light touch may be applied to accurately assess the sensory block. However, there is a lack of data firmly describing the use of these methods in anesthetics used during a vaginal birth. Thus, the authors sought clarification on whether cold, pinprick, and light touch are substrates equally attuned for such assessments.