Historical review of caudal epidural analgesia in obstetrics

Caudal epidural analgesia was first introduced to medicine by Sicard and Cathelin in Paris in 1901. Stoeckel, a German Obstetrician, is attributed the honour of first introducing this procedure to obstetric practice in 1909. The development of Novocaine by Einhorn in 1905 heralded a new era in the use of local anaesthetics and newer applications became commonplace. Edwards and Hingson, in following the lead given by Lemon and Pascal, developed a method of continuous pain relief in labour. They introduced ‘Continuous Caudal Epidural Analgesia,’ using an indwelling catheter in the extradural space to facilitate repeated injections as required. A joint programme for the provision of regional analgesia in labour has been in operation in University College Galway since 1972.