Association between combined spinal‐epidural analgesia and neurodevelopment at 3 years old: The Japan Environment and Children's Study

Aim To investigate the association between maternal combined spinal‐epidural analgesia during vaginal delivery and neurodevelopment in 3‐year‐old children. Methods Using data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study, a birth cohort study on pregnant women and their offspring, we described the background, perinatal outcomes, and neurodevelopmental outcomes of participants with a singleton pregnancy who received combined spinal‐epidural analgesia during vaginal delivery and those who did not. The association between maternal combined spinal‐epidural analgesia and abnormalities in five domains of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition, was analyzed using univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Crude and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated. Results Among 59 379 participants, 82 (0.1%) children (exposed group) were born to mothers who received combined spinal‐epidural analgesia during vaginal delivery. In the exposed versus control groups, 1.2% versus 3.7% had communication abnormalities (adjusted odds ratio [95% CI]: 0.30 [0.04–2.19]), 6.1% versus 4.1% exhibited gross‐motor abnormalities (1.36 [95% CI: 0.55–3.36]), 10.9% vs. 7.1% had fine‐motor abnormalities (1.46 [95% CI: 0.72–2.96]), 6.1% vs. 6.9% showed difficulties with problem‐solving (0.81 [95% CI: 0.33–2.01]), and 2.4% vs. 3.0% had personal‐social problems (0.70 [95% CI: 0.17–2.85]). Conclusions Exposure to combined spinal‐epidural analgesia during vaginal delivery was not associated with the risk of neurodevelopmental abnormalities; however, the sample size of our study might not be appropriate for the study design.