Effect of initial anesthetic technique on fetal cord blood gas pH for cesarean deliveries performed for the indication of fetal heart rate abnormalities.

Background: We hypothesized that parturients who had general anesthesia as the initial anesthetic technique for cesarean deliveries performed for fetal heart rate abnormalities would have a lower fetal cord blood gas pH compared to parturients who had regional anesthesia as the initial anesthetic technique.

Methods: We searched our electronic medical record for patients who had cesarean deliveries for the indication of fetal heart rate abnormalities from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2021, at our hospital. An obstetrics resident and a maternal fetal medicine physician determined if the fetal heart tracing was category 2 or 3.

Results: A total of 130 and 29 patients with category 2 and 3 fetal heart tracing had regional and general anesthesia as the initial anesthetic technique, respectively. Fourteen and 20 patients with a category 3 fetal heart tracing had regional and general anesthesia as the initial anesthetic techniques, respectively. There were no differences in fetal cord blood gas pH between patients who had regional or general anesthesia as the first attempted anesthetic technique when patients with category 2 and 3 tracings were evaluated separately.

Conclusion: The initial anesthetic technique attempted for cesarean delivery was not associated with a worse fetal cord blood gas pH.