Articles: general-anesthesia.
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Multicenter Study
Frequency and Risk Factors for Difficult Intubation in Women Undergoing General Anesthesia for Cesarean Delivery: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Analysis.
Estimates for the incidence of difficult intubation in the obstetric population vary widely, although previous studies reporting rates of difficult intubation in obstetrics are older and limited by smaller samples. The goals of this study were to provide a contemporary estimate of the frequency of difficult and failed intubation in women undergoing general anesthesia for cesarean delivery and to elucidate risk factors for difficult intubation in women undergoing general anesthesia for cesarean delivery. ⋯ In this large, multicenter, contemporary study of more than 14,000 general anesthetics for cesarean delivery, an overall risk of difficult intubation of 1:49 and a risk of failed intubation of 1:808 were observed. Most risk factors for difficult intubation were nonobstetric in nature. These data demonstrate that difficult intubation in obstetrics remains an ongoing concern.
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Pulse oximetry is ubiquitous in anesthesia and is generally a reliable noninvasive measure of arterial oxygen saturation. Concerns regarding the impact of skin pigmentation and race/ethnicity on the accuracy of pulse oximeter accuracy exist. The authors hypothesized a greater prevalence of occult hypoxemia (arterial oxygen saturation [Sao2] less than 88% despite oxygen saturation measured by pulse oximetry [Spo2] greater than 92%) in patients undergoing anesthesia who self-reported a race/ethnicity other than White. ⋯ Self-reported Black and Hispanic race/ethnicity are associated with a greater prevalence of intraoperative occult hypoxemia in the Spo2 range of 92 to 100% when compared with self-reported White race/ethnicity.
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To describe the anesthetic management and outcomes of placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) cases at our institution over a 19 year period and to compare outcomes associated with the lumbar combined spinal epidural (CSE) technique versus the double catheter technique (lumbar CSE with thoracic epidural catheter). ⋯ Neuraxial anesthesia is the most commonly used technique for PAS cases in our practice. The double catheter technique was associated with lower GA conversion rates compared to the CSE technique in our cohort.