[Combined spinal epidural anesthesia for emergency cesarean section].

Background: We performed a retrospective analysis to evaluate the usefulness of combined spinal epidural anesthesia (CSEA) in emergency cesarean section compared with conventional spinal anesthesia.

Methods: A retrospective chart analysis of patients who had undergone emergency cesarean section over a 7 year period was performed. We extracted at random 150 patients planned by spinal anesthesia, and 150 patients planned by separate-needle CSEA. Patient's data were gathered and analyzed according to the anesthetic technique used.

Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in age, weight, and BMI. Although the time to incision and the time to delivery were significantly faster in spinal anesthesia group than in CSEA group, there was no significant difference in Apgar score between the groups. Moreover, failure of anesthesia and post-dural puncture headache were higher in spinal group than in CSEA group.

Conclusions: CSEA is useful as anesthesia for an emergency cesarean section.