Update on general anaesthesia for Caesarean section

Abstract

The increased use of regional anaesthesia for Caesarean section (CS) has been a consequence of the risk of failed intubation associated with general anaesthesia (GA) for CS, as well as the provision of an improved birth experience and quality of postoperative analgesia. This trend has led to a lack of experience in the practice of rapid sequence intubation and GA in trainee anaesthetists,¹ prompting the suggestion that simulators may become an essential part of anaesthesia training in this scenario.² In the USA during the period 1984-2002, the case fatality rate for general anaesthesia decreased from 32.3 to 6.5 per million, while the rate of regional anaesthesia was lower, but increased from 1.9 to 3.8 per million.³