Does epidural analgesia play a role in postpartum urinary incontinence? Medium-term results from a case-control study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the medium-term effect of epidural analgesia (EA) on the possible onset of postpartum urinary incontinence (PUI). METHODS: We performed a single-center, retrospective case-control study. At 8 weeks postpartum, we recruited a cohort of women who had term singleton pregnancy and fetus in cephalic presentation, and divided in 6 groups: 1) vaginal delivery without episiotomy, without EA; 2) vaginal delivery without episiotomy, with EA; 3) vaginal delivery with episiotomy, without EA; 4) vaginal delivery with episiotomy, with EA; 5) emergency caesarean section without previous EA during labour; 6) emergency caesarean section with previous EA during labour. For each woman we recorded age, Body Mass Index (BMI), and the result of the following questionnaire for urinary incontinence: International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form (ICIQ-SF), Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7 (IIQ-7), Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 (UDI-6). Subsequently, we compared group 1 Vs group 2; group 3 Vs group 4; group 5 Vs group 6. RESULTS: We did not evidence any significant difference for age, BMI and incontinence scores between group 1 and 2; 3 and 4; 5 and 6. CONCLUSIONS: EA did not affect the onset of PUI in medium-term, regardless the mode of delivery.