Fièvre et anesthésie péridurale au cours du travail obstétrical

Though strong evidences of causality or clear pathophysiological explanations are missing, an association between labour epidural analgesia and maternal fever has been reported in numerous studies. An inflammatory mechanism, especially placental inflammation, is the most commonly accepted theory. Most of the time, maternal fever associated with labour epidural analgesia has no severe consequence, yet it increases the number of invasive procedures performed in mothers and new-borns. Moreover, it could be considered as a risk factor of complications, especially neurological impairment of the newborn. Nowadays, no prophylactic or curative treatment can be recommended, as there is no proof of a real negative impact on mother and child, and no effective treatment against maternal fever related to labour epidural analgesia has been documented so far. Consequently, there is still a need of future research on this topic.