Are Labor Epidural Catheters After a Combined Spinal Epidural (CSE) Technique More Reliable Than After a Traditional Epidural? A Retrospective Review of 9153 Labor Epidural Catheters

Acta Anaesthesiol Scand . 2025 Jan;69(1):e14542. doi: 10.1111/aas.14542. Combined spinal epidural (CSE) labor analgesia has been reported to have a lower failure rate of epidural catheters when compared to traditional epidural analgesia. Failing catheters can lead to breakthrough pain and administration of analgesia at a later stage in labor, both of which can interrupt pain relief and lower patient satisfaction. Previous literature has shown some reduction in catheter failure rate in CSE, and some more recent studies have not shown this difference to be significant. This study was designed to assess the failure rate of epidural catheters in CSE compared with traditional epidurals.