Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38876925›Full record

ArticleBritish journal of anaesthesia2024

Epidural analgesia in labour: separating fact from fiction for autism and neurodevelopment.

Rachel J Kearns, Scott M Nelson, Steffen Rex

Abstract readEditorialComment
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in British journal of anaesthesia, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Rachel J KearnsDepartment of Anaesthesia, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, UK. Electronic address: rachel.kearns@glasgow.ac.uk.
Scott M NelsonSchool of Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Steffen RexDepartment of Anaesthesiology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Having epidural analgesia in labour has been associated with a later diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in the offspring, resulting in concerns about childhood wellbeing. Neurodevelopmental changes are inconsistently reported in the literature, creating challenges in the interpretation of these findings. Here we explore the limitations of the current evidence base, and why findings differ between studies, concluding that the current body of evidence does not support a causal association between use of epidural analgesia in labour and autism spectrum disorder.

Indexed as

Analgesia, EpiduralAnalgesia, ObstetricalAutism Spectrum DisorderAutistic DisorderFemaleHumansLabor, ObstetricPregnancyautism spectrum disorderchildhood developmentepidural analgesiaobstetric anaesthesiapaediatric anaesthesia

Identifiers

PMID38876925

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.