Epidural Anesthesia and Newborn Hearing Screening
Author Information
Author(s): Khoza-Shangase Katijah, Joubert Karin
Primary Institution: University of the Witwatersrand
Hypothesis
Does epidural anesthesia influence newborn hearing screening results in infants born via elective Cesarean section?
Conclusion
Epidural anesthesia may lead to increased false positive results in newborn hearing screenings conducted within the first four hours after birth.
Supporting Evidence
- Hearing screening results indicated that testing earlier than four hours after birth yielded more false positives.
- Statistically significant findings were obtained regarding the influence of epidural anesthesia on AABR results.
- TEOAE screening is more reliable when conducted after 24 hours post-birth.
Takeaway
This study looked at whether epidural anesthesia affects hearing tests for newborns. It found that testing too soon after birth can give wrong results.
Methodology
A prospective quasi-experimental repeated measures design with a comparison group was used to screen 40 newborns at three different times.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to the nonprobability sampling strategy and the small sample size.
Limitations
The small sample size limits the generalizability of the results.
Participant Demographics
Newborns born to mothers who underwent either epidural anesthesia during Cesarean section or natural delivery.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.00001
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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