Clinical trials

200 parturients coming for an elective cesarean delivery will receive a standard neuraxial anesthesia for the operation consisting of a spinal anesthetic and an epidural catheter (combined spinal epidural anaesthesia). The parturients are asked a verbal rating by a paper form within 2 hours after the operation asking if they experienced pain during surgery (none; at times; half the time; most of the time; all the time). Additionally the intensity of the pain that was potentially experienced is asked on a 0-10 numeral rating scale (0= no pain; 10 = worst possible pain). The primary outcome of the study is the proportion of parturients reporting either existence of some pain (answer other than "none" to the question asking about pain during surgery) OR reporting maximum pain during surgery of 4 or more on the 0-10 NRS scale. The observed outcome is compared against the previously reported incidense of 18 % when using combied spinal epidural anesthesia for the cesarean section.