Intrapartum fever, epidural analgesia and histologic chorioamnionitis

Objective:our objective was to determine whether epidural analgesia and histologic chorioamnionitis were independent predictors of intrapartum fever.study design:this secondary analysis, retrospective cohort study included term parturients with placental examination during 2005. logistic regression used fever (⩾38 °c) as the dependent variable. significance was defined as p⩽0.05.result:there were 488 (76%) of 641 term parturients with placental examination and epidural. independent predictors of intrapartum fever were epidural odds ratio (or)=3.4, confidence interval (ci): 1.70, 6.81, histologic chorioamnionitis or=3.18, 95% ci: 2.04, 4.95, birthweight or=2.07, 95%ci: 1.38, 3.12, vaginal exams or=1.15, 95% ci:1.06, 1.24, duration ruptured membranes or=1.03, 95% ci: 1.01,1.05, parity⩾1 or=0.44: 0.29, 0.66 and thick meconium or=0.35: 95%ci: 0.24, 0.85.conclusion:epidural analgesia and histologic chorioamnionitis were independent predictors of intrapartum fever. modification of labor management may reduce the incidence of intrapartum fever.