Pre-eclampsia and anaesthesia

Abstract

The management of anaesthesia in patients suffering preeclampsia has to be selected individually. There is a high rate of caesarean sections in patients with preeclampsia. Intubation anaesthesia or regional anaesthesia are commonly used methods and can be considered comparable and equally useful. In our opinion, the application of regional anaesthesia should be preferred, if the initial criteria, such as normal neurologic status and blood coagulation, are fulfilled. We believe in a considerable reduction of vital risks when using regional anaesthesia. Our aim was to figure out the risk-factors of preeclampsia and preterm maturity regarding anaesthesia management. Preeclampsia is a severe illness in pregnancy with a frequency of 5-10%. In 1997, we experienced 73 patients with praeeclampsia according to the definition of ISSPH. Mode of delivery was conventional in 10 patients, 2 patients had a vacuum extraction and 61 patients needed a caesarean section. The rate of epidural anesthesia for delivery was 51%. We used epidural anaesthesia in 6 spontaneous deliveries, in 2 vacuum extractions and in 30 caesarean sections. There were no problems with epidural anaesthesia and the outcome of mother and child was also considered to be excellent. We suggest to use regional anesthesia techniques whenever possible.