Comparison of Adverse Effects Related To the Use of Epidural Anesthesia versus Spinal Anesthesia In Cesarean Section Patients At The Plaza De La Salud General Hospital In Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, During The Period January-December 2021: A Retrospective Study

Author(s): Mariam Alcántara, Alba Rebecca Hernández

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the two different types of regional anesthesia for a cesarean section and to analyze the various perioperative and postoperative side effects related to them.

Design: We retrospectively included those patients who required a cesarean section under regional anesthesia.

Setting: Hospital General Plaza de la Salud from January 2021 to December 2021.

Participants: A total of 202 cesarean sections were analyzed. Spinal anesthesia was used in 195 participants and epidural anesthesia in 7; both groups were then compared.

Results: Perioperative results revealed that spinal anesthesia had a shorter total anesthesia time, more frequent hypotensive episodes, and a higher perioperative ephedrine administration rate. Regarding the postoperative results, the Apgar scores of the newborns recorded at one minute and at 5 minutes were similar in both groups.

Conclusions: For patients who required a cesarean section under regional anesthesia, the use of spinal anesthesia led to a shorter anesthetic time, however it is associated with greater hemodynamic changes and ephedrine administration compared with epidural anesthesia.