Anatomical predicting factors of difficult spinal anesthesia in patients undergoing cesarean section: An observational study

Predicting Factors of Difficult Spinal Anesthesia

  • Simin Atashkhoei
  • Saeed Samudi
  • Naghi Abedini Tabriz University of Medical Sciences
  • Nahid Khoshmaram
  • Masoumeh Minayi
Keywords: Cesarean Section, Anatomical Factors, Spinal anesthesia

Abstract

Objectives: Although Spinal anesthesia is the most common and safe anesthetic method for patients undergoing cesarean section, difficult access to it is a frequent problem in operating theaters. The predictive factors for the difficulty of spinal anesthesia in patients undergoing cesarean section were investigated.

Methods: A total of 110 pregnant women, single-stranded, aged 18-40 years old and ASA class I or II candidates for elective cesarean section with spinal anesthesia were studied. Demographic information, body appearance, ability to bend the back of the patient was recoded. Also the position of the anatomical landmarks of the lumbar spine, the presence or absence of deformity in the spinal column lumbar was recorded for all patients. 

Results: The correlation coefficient of age, weight, body mass index, general body appearance, retention ability, anatomical signs of the spinal column (touching the spinous process) and the interval between the vertebra with the difficulty of spinal anesthesia were statistically significant (p<0.05). Complications after spinal anesthesia had a statistically significant relationship with the difficulty of performing spinal blockade (p: 0.006).

Conclusion: Increasing age, weight, body mass index, reducing the ability to bend the waist, the non-touching of the spinous process and interstitial space causes the difficulty of performing spinal anesthesia in patients undergoing cesarean section. The results can contribute to determining and designing a spinal blockade scoring system based on the patient’s characteristics and effective factors before the surgery, to facilitate the technique by anesthesiologist. 

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.6.1276

How to cite this:
Atashkhoei S, Samudi S, Abedini N, Khoshmaram N, Minayi M. Anatomical predicting factors of difficult spinal anesthesia in patients undergoing cesarean section: An observational study. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(6):1707-1711.   doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.6.1276

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published
2019-10-10
How to Cite
Atashkhoei, S., Samudi, S., Abedini, N., Khoshmaram, N., & Minayi, M. (2019). Anatomical predicting factors of difficult spinal anesthesia in patients undergoing cesarean section: An observational study: Predicting Factors of Difficult Spinal Anesthesia. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 35(6). https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.6.1276
Section
Original Articles