During first stage of labour, many women suffer from
lower back pain. Since cutaneous afferents from the lower back converge to the dorsal horns in the same segments there is anatomical support for the
lower back pain being a
referred pain. Intracutaneous
injections of sterile water in the skin over the sacrum have been shown to relieve the
pain of labour and it is free from negative side effects associated with use of other methods. The study was conducted after approval of institutional ethical committee on 100 pregnant patients admitted to the labour room of Lok Nayak hospital, New Delhi. Patients received 4 intracutaneous
injections of sterile water or
normal saline 0.5ml in the lumbo-sacral region.
Pain scores, progress of labour and fetal outcome were studied. There was significant reduction of
pain scores in the sterile water group but not in the
normal saline group
at 10, 45 and 90 minutes after injection. There was no difference in the progress of labour and fetal outcome between the two groups. To conclude intracutoneous sterile water
injections over the sacrum is a simple and effective method to control
pain during labour.