CONDUCTION ANESTHESIA AND ANALGESIA FOR OBSTETRICS

Abstract

A brief review of the major events in the development of conduction anesthesia and the anatomic and physiologic considerations in conduction anesthesia are presented. The authors discuss their techniques for conduction analgesia and anesthesia and stress the availability of emergency measures such as O2 and intravenous fluids and emphasize asepsis. The validity of their methods is illustrated in their Cleveland series of 50,353 cases of major vertebral conduction anesthesia for obstetrics. Here the incidence of a major complication was less than 1 in 2500 deliveries. In this series there were 44,974 obstetric spinal anesthesias with 1 death and 8 major complications, of which 2 were permanent. There was one instance of permanent damage in 9 major complications occurring in 5379 obstetric continuous caudal anesthesias.