Trend of Caesarean Section and Obstetric Anesthesia: A Retrospective Study at Keren Regional Referral Hospital 2002-2020
Author(s): Samuel Fikremariam Bein, Betiel Yihdego Kidanemariam , Fitsum Kibreab
Introduction: Despite the rising trends of caesarean section worldwide, there had been less impact on reducing maternal and fetal mortality. Regional anesthesia has become predominant method due to its easier technical placement, faster onset of action, reliable surgical anesthesia and allows more direct experience of childbirth. The aim of the study was to assess the trend of caesarean section and obstetric anesthesia at Keren Regional Referral Hospital.
Methodology: A retrospective study design on anesthesia and obstetric record review was conducted on parturients who had caesarean section at Keren Regional Referral Hospital from January 1st 2002 to December 31st 2020. After securing permission from Ministry of Health data regarding the age of the parturients who underwent caesarean section, the total number of caesarean sections performed, the type of obstetric anesthesia administered, the indications for caesarean section and the type of caesarean section based on timing were collected. After data collection was completed and cleanedin MS Excel it was exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Frequency distribution and percentage were the focus of the analysis.
Results: A total of 40,270 parturients delivered at Keren Regional Referral Hospital out of this 6440 (16.9%) parturients had caesarean section. There was an increment of cesarean section from 16.4% in 2002 to 20.6% in 2020. Majority (53.1%) of the parturients laid between the age group of 20-29. Regarding the type of anesthesia given 3411 (53.1%) were operated under spinal anesthesia (SA) while the rest 3010 (46.9%) were done under general anesthesia. Majority (89.9%) were emergency and only 10.1% were elective, with the main medical indication being cephalo- pelvic disproportion(25.6%).
Conclusion: The increase of cesarean section rate beyond the WHO recommendation and majority of the cases being emergen