Effect of Epidural Dexmedetomidine as an Adjuvant to Local Anesthetics for Labor Analgesia: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Table 2

Results of meta-analysis.

Outcomes	Studies	Participants	Effect estimate
			MD (OR) and 95% CI	I^2 (%)
VAS score (before block)	5	548	−0.02 [−0.19, 0.16]	15	0.85
VAS score (15 min after block)	2	240	−2.15 [−3.53, −0.77]	92	0.002
VAS score (30 min after block)	4	388	−0.97 [−1.75, −0.19]	93	0.01
VAS score (60 min after block)	3	238	−1.03 [−2.17, 0.11]	92	0.08
VAS score (120 min after block)	3	232	−1.05 [−1.90, −0.20]	86	0.02
VAS score (at the moment of disengagement)	3	379	−0.96 [−1.46, −0.46]	94	0.0002
Time of first stage	8	1305	−18.51 [−37.26, 0.25]	92	0.05
Time of second stage	8	1300	1.28 [−4.72, 7.28]	97	0.68
Mode of delivery	7	674	1.13 [0.70, 1.81]	0	0.62
Onset of analgesia	4	288	0.04 [−2.51, 2.58]	93	0.98
MAP (before block)	4	477	0.68 [−1.08, 2.43]	0	0.45
MAP (15 min after block)	3	327	−0.93 [−8.32, 6.46]	91	0.81
MAP (30 min after block)	3	317	−0.92 [−3.78, 1.93]	52	0.53
MAP (60 min after block)	2	167	−3.05 [−6.16, 0.05]	39	0.05
MAP (120 min after block)	2	161	−3.74 [−6.75, −0.74]	31	0.01
MAP (at the moment of disengagement)	2	229	0.32 [−8.83, 9.47]	92	0.95
HR (before the block)	4	477	−0.41 [−1.88, 1.05]	0	0.58
HR (15 min after block)	3	327	−3.33 [−10.53, 3.87]	93	0.36
HR (30 min after block)	3	317	−2.70 [−4.47, −0.92]	48	0.003
HR (60 min after block)	2	167	−5.83 [−7.78, −3.88]	0	<0.00001
HR (120 min after block)	2	161	−4.90 [−6.66, −3.13]	0	<0.00001
HR (at the moment of disengagement)	2	229	−1.21 [−12.73, 10.30]	96	0.84
Blood loss	3	275	−6.03 [−10.93, −1.13]	0	0.02
Motor block (modified Bromage scale)	7	1162	0.29 [−0.37, 0.96]	95	0.39
Apgar score (1 min)	4	437	−0.01 [−0.11, 0.10]	8	0.88
Apgar score (5 min)	5	587	−0.00 [−0.07, 0.07]	0	0.97
Umbilical artery pH	5	508	0 [−0.01, 0.02]	0	0.72
Umbilical artery PaO2	2	230	1.25 [−2.88, 5.37]	96	0.55
Incidence of maternal bradycardia	8	1323	2.90 [1.04, 8.11]	0	0.04
Incidence of hypotension	7	1173	1.11 [0.38, 3.20]	37	0.85
Incidence of nausea/vomiting	9	1403	0.49 [0.30, 0.82]	0	0.006
Incidence of itching	6	598	0.46 [0.12, 1.81]	21	0.27
Incidence of shivering	3	201	0.96 [0.29, 3.16]	0	0.95
Incidence of urinary retention	5	511	0.49 [0.22, 1.10]	0	0.08
Incidence of fetal heart rate abnormality	4	464	0.91 [0.40, 2.04]	0	0.82

MD, mean difference; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; VAS, visual analog scale; MAP, mean arterial pressure; HR, heart rate.