Uterine tocolysis at cesarean breech delivery with epidural anesthesia.

Objective: To assess the safety and efficacy of ritodrine and nitroglycerin for uterine relaxation during cesarean section with a breech-presenting fetus, performed under nongeneral anesthesia.

Study Design: A retrospective review of all breech singletons delivered by cesarean section under epidural anaesthesia in a two-year period. The study groups consisted of those who received ritodrine and those who received nitroglycerin.

Fiberoptic intubation using anesthetized, paralyzed, apneic patients. Results of a resident training program.

Background: There is no consensus about the best way to teach fiberoptic intubation. This study assesses the effectiveness of a training program in which novice anesthetic residents routinely were taught fiberoptic tracheal intubation of anesthetized, paralyzed, apneic patients.

Methods: Eight inexperienced anesthetic residents learned fiberoptic and conventional tracheal intubation simultaneously during their first 4 months of training.

Hysteroscopy and anaesthesia.

Purpose And Source: Hysteroscopy has become a widely accepted technique in the diagnosis and treatment of various gynaecological conditions. The advent of the fibreoptic endoscope and distending media has largely been responsible for the increasing use of hysteroscopy. It is our aim in this article to review the literature on the frequently used distending media such as carbon dioxide, glycine, dextran, dextrose, sorbitol and mannitol and their anaesthetic implications.

Alternating nitroglycerin and syntocinon to facilitate uterine exploration and removal of an adherent placenta.

Nitroglycerin (NTG) has been demonstrated to provide uterine relaxation in the management of various obstetric complications. A 32-yr-old woman presented 40 min postpartum for manual removal of a retained placenta. Repeated, alternating doses of NTG 250 micrograms and syntocinon (SYN) 10U iv were used over 15 min to produce periods of uterine relaxation and contraction respectively for uterine exploration.

The premature infant: anesthesia for cesarean delivery.

The influence of anesthetic technique (general [GA] versus epidural [EPI]) on neonatal outcome was assessed for singleton infants of gestational age 32 wk or less, delivered by cesarean section. Neonates were identified from a prospectively collected perinatal database from 1986 to 1991. The independent effect of anesthetic technique on low 1-min Apgar scores after controlling for other risk factors was assessed by ordinal logistic regression.

Acute intermittent porphyria and caesarean delivery.

A 29-yr-old patient was diagnosed with acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) during pregnancy. She had a Caesarean section under lidocaine/fentanyl epidural blockade. Because of inadequate analgesia, general anaesthesia was induced with propofol.

Epidural anesthesia, episiotomy, and obstetric laceration.

The relationships among epidural anesthesia, forceps use, parity, episiotomy, and laceration were studied in 9493 uncomplicated vertex deliveries of spontaneous onset and normal course. The use of epidural anesthesia was not associated with an increased incidence or severity of birth-canal trauma. Episiotomy was associated with a decreased rate of perineal laceration, but an overall increase in the rate of perineal trauma.

Epidural anesthesia for obstetrics after spinal surgery.

The experience of 18 patients with previous spinal surgery who requested epidural anesthesia for obstetric pain was reviewed. Three received epidural anesthetics in two separate pregnancies, producing a total of 21 attempts at epidural anesthesia. All were initiated during labor and three were later extended for Cesarean delivery.

Fluid through the epidural needle does not reduce complications of epidural catheter insertion.

Epidural catheter insertion may be associated with blood vessel trauma or nerve root irritation. The purpose of this study was to assess whether the injection of small amounts of fluid through the Tuohy needle prior to catheter insertion reduced the incidence of these and other minor complications. Two hundred patients in labour, requesting epidural analgesia, were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Group I--the catheter was inserted without previous injection of fluid; Group II--3 ml, 1.

Epidural anaesthesia for caesarean section in patients with active recurrent genital herpes simplex infections: a retrospective review.

The safety of epidural anaesthesia in patients with active, recurrent genital herpes simplex (HSV) infections is controversial. We reviewed the six-year experience of the use of epidural anaesthesia in this patient population in two institutions. Eighty-nine parturients with active genital HSV were administered epidural anaesthesia for Caesarean section.

Epidural anaesthesia and thrombocytopenia.

A case is presented of a mother with unanticipated profound thrombocytopenia who received a continuous epidural anaesthetic for labour. No neurological sequelae or excessive bleeding occurred. It is clear, after a review of the literature, that more information is needed to define the lower limits of platelet count at which it is safe to proceed with epidural anaesthesia.

Epidural anaesthesia and blood flow velocity in mother and fetus.

Doppler ultrasound has recently been used to assess changes in blood velocity in the uterine and umbilical arteries. Alterations in the ratio of systolic to diastolic velocity (S/D ratio) are believed to reflect changes in placental vascular resistance. We have used this technique to assess potential beneficial or detrimental effects of epidural anaesthesia on blood flow to the placenta.

Epidural anesthesia in pregnant patients with low platelet counts.

A number of patients demonstrate thrombocytopenia in the peripartum period. One hundred four patients with unexplained transient periparturient thrombocytopenia were found over a nine-month period. Sixty-one of them received epidural anesthesia without neurologic sequelae.

The epidural test dose in obstetrics: is it necessary?

One must distinguish between what is medically safe and what is legally safe. The authors have the impression that in order to be "legally safe" one must perform a test dose. This is despite the fact that it has not been conclusively shown that the use of test doses improve the safety margin of epidural anaesthesia, when administered by a competent person, with the proper resuscitative equipment immediately available.

A comparison of two types of epidural catheters.

The purpose of this study was to compare two epidural catheters--the Portex epidural catheter and Vas-Cath catheter. One hundred and fifty patients in labour who received epidural anaesthesia were selected and either one or the other catheter was used, based on random assignment. Ease of insertion, maintenance and removal of the catheter were assessed, as was the incidence of blood return and paraesthesiae during epidural catheter insertion.