Obstetric Anesthesia and Analgesia and Multiple Sclerosis

Influence of Obstetric Anesthesia and Analgesia on the Progression of the Disease in Multiple Sclerosis Parturients: Retrospective Cohort Study

Aim of the retrospective study was to evaluate the influence of the labour on the clinical course of the parturients with MS in selected 6 month follow-up interval and to evaluate to possible influence of the different anesthesia/analgesia types on the course of MS.

The role of anesthesia in multiple sclerosis (MS) progression remains unclear in spite of few foreign studies. The most frequently afflicted patients by MS are women of childbearing age and influence of anesthesia or obstetric epidural analgesia has only not been investigated in Czech Republic. The study aims to retrospectively compare the further course of the disease of MS in patients who labor between 2004 and 2013 in University Hospital Brno either by caesarean section or vaginally with epidural analgesia , with patients who gave birth spontaneously without anesthesia.The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of the labour on the clinical course of MS and further evaluate the possible influence of the type of anesthesia/analgesia in the peripartal period on the MS progression.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Parturients with multiple sclerosis
• Possible follow up - neurologic examination available after 10 month from delivery

Exclusion Criteria:

• probable or no multiple sclerosis at time of labor
• unknown neurology history
• unknown data on neurology outcome 6 months after labour
• Incomplete data
• Follow-up not possible