ABSTRACT
Objective To summarize the experience in anesthesia management for cesarean section(CS) after failed labor in women with combined spinal and epidural analgesia and to provide evidence for more effective and safer clinical practice.Methods We included 58 singleton pregnant women who received spinal and epidural analgesia during labor but converted to CS at Tongji Hospital,Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Technology from October 2017 to October 2018.When CS was indicated,10 ml of 0.125％ ropivacaine was given through the epidural catheter immediately,and 5 ml of 1％ lidocaine was given when arriving at the operating room.Five minutes later,10 ml of 1％ ropivacaine was administered.General anesthesia would be required when epidural anesthesia was considered to be failed 10 min after the usage of ropivacaine.Clinical datas were retrospectively reviewed.The management and effects of anesthesia for CS,maternal and neonatal outcomes were described.Results Of the 58 patients when CS was indicated during labor,5.2％(3/58) received general anesthesia immediately.Among the other 94.8％ (55/58) who received epidural anesthesia,3.6％(2/55) converted to general anesthesia later.Adverse effects of epidural anesthesia included reduced mean artery pressure (8/53,15.1％),nausea and vomiting (3/53,5.7％).For the neonatal Apgar score at 1 min,one out of the 58 babies (1.7％) was between 0 and 3,ten (17.2％) between 4 and 7,and 47 (81.0％) between 8 and 10.The two babies (3.4％) with Apgar score between 4 and 7 at 5 min were both referred to the department of Neonatology,and the rest 56 neonates (96.6％) scored 8-10.Conclusions Spinal and epidural analgesia in labor can be safely and effectively adjusted to anesthesia for CS.