ACOG, MFM, Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology, American Society for Anesthesiologists and the Society of Pediatric Anesthesia have released a joint statement in response to a retrospective study (Qui et al. JAMA Pediatrics, 2020) that suggests an association between epidural anesthesia and autism. The joint statement states that this study “…does not provide credible scientific evidence that labor epidurals for pain relief cause autism.”
Methods
Results
…our findings should be interpreted with caution given the wide varieties of LEA practice and cannot be interpreted as a demonstration of a causal link between LEA exposure and subsequent development of ASD
Joint Statement by Professional Societies
…if anything, epidurals improve maternal and neonatal outcomes
…five medical societies that represent more than 100,000 physicians want to assure the public that an association between a mother’s use of epidural analgesia during childbirth, and her infant’s risk of developing autism does not imply causation
Millions of women worldwide benefit from epidural pain relief every year and give birth without any complications to mother or baby
Royal College of Anaesthetists
…one of the surprising aspects of this study is lack of data about pregnancy and delivery complications which are known to increase the risk of autism
Such complications as prolonged duration of labour, fetal distress, fetal malposition and assisted vaginal delivery are also known to be associated with an increased request rate for epidurals. It is possible therefore that birth complications are actually the hidden factor linking epidurals and autism
Royal College of Anaesthetists: No evidence that labour epidurals cause autism
Take a post-test and get CME credits
TAKE THE POST TEST
Please log in to ObGFirst to access the 2T US Atlas
OBG Project CME requires a modern web browser (Internet Explorer 10+, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge). Certain educational activities may require additional software to view multimedia, presentation, or printable versions of their content. These activities will be marked as such and will provide links to the required software. That software may be: Adobe Flash, Apple QuickTime, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft PowerPoint, Windows Media Player, or Real Networks Real One Player.
This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. The planners of this activity do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications.
The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of the planners. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.
Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information
presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient’s conditions and possible contraindications and/or dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities.
Jointly provided by
