• L Zieleskiewicz, J-P Bellefleur, F Antonini, D Ortega, M Leone, and C Martin.
• Service d'anesthésie et de réanimation, faculté de médecine de Marseille, hôpital Nord, AP-HM, chemin des Bourrely, Marseille cedex 20, France.
• Ann Fr Anesth Reanim. 2009 Feb 1;28(2):119-23.

ObjectiveTo describe the airway management during general anaesthesia performed at the end of labour.Study DesignObservational retrospective study in a French university obstetrical unit.Patients And MethodsAll parturients who underwent general anaesthesia for manual removal of the placenta or instrumental delivery were included. Demographic data, anaesthesia management, indication and duration of anaesthesia were recorded. Incidents as vomiting, a drop in oxygen saturation of five points or more, aspiration and difficult endotracheal intubation were investigated.ResultsAmong 111 parturients with inclusion criteria, the rate of tracheal intubation was 5%. The duration of anaesthesia ranged from five to 60 minutes (mean duration: 16 min). No incident was recorded within the methodological limits of this retrospective study.ConclusionThere is a major discrepancy between guidelines and clinical practice in our unit concerning systematic tracheal intubation during general anaesthesia performed at the end of labour. A national survey is in process to confirm these results.

37 keywords...

hide…