Epidural labor analgesia (ELA) is a central nerve block technique used as a form of pain relief in labor. However, recent studies show that ELA is associated with a higher risk of ASD in the offspring, though the residual confounding remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the association between ELA and offspring risk of ASD.
This longitudinal cohort study included a total of 47,011 offsprings whose mothers received ELA during delivery were eligible for the study. A total of 76,164 offsprings whose mothers were not exposed to ELA were also included. The primary outcome of the study was the incidence of at least one inpatient or outpatient diagnosis of ASD in offsprings aged at least 18 months.
The results showed that the incident rate of ASD was 2.1% in offsprings exposed to ELA compared to 1.7% not exposed to ELA. After adjusting for factors like pregnancy, prepregnancy, perinatal covariates, and maternal sociodemographic, ELA was not found to be associated with ASD in offspring. Furthermore, ELA was not associated with ASD in the within-siblings design adjusting for baseline covariates.
The research concluded that there was no significant association between ELA exposure and the risk of ASD in the offspring.
Ref: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2778776?resultClick=1
