Editor’s PicksAssociation of Labor Epidural Analgesia With Autism Spectrum Disorder in ChildrenMikkelsen, A.; Greiber, I.; Scheller, N.; Lidegaard, O. Author Information Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Juliane Marie Centre, Copenhagen University Hospital-Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark Obstetric Anesthesia Digest 42(2):p 53, June 2022. | DOI: 10.1097/01.aoa.0000827624.94362.10 Buy Metrics Abstract (JAMA. 2021;326:1170–1177) Epidural analgesia is an effective and commonly used modality of labor analgesia. More than 70% of women in the United States utilize neuraxial analgesia. A recent cohort study reported an association with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children born after epidural analgesia compared to unexposed children. Five major obstetric and anesthesiology societies issued statements stating the study did not provide evidence of causal inference and described limitations of the study including residual confounding. They recommended further high-quality studies be conducted to further evaluate the association. This study aimed to determine the relationship between epidural labor analgesia and ASD using public Danish databases. Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
