The complications of spinal anesthesia after cesarean section in women with Covid-19: a case-control study

Abstract

Introduction: Since spinal anesthesia is a suitable method for terminating pregnancy in hospitalized pregnant women with Covid-19 and this method is associated with complications that Corona virus and Covid 19 may increase their severity, this study was performed aimed to evaluate the complications of spinal anesthesia after cesarean section in hospitalized women with COVID-19. Methods: This case-control study was performed in 2020-2021 with participation of 150 pregnant women (with and without Covid-19) who are candidates for cesarean section by spinal anesthesia in the teaching hospitals of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. The complications such as shivering, pruritus, hypotension, decreased heart rate, increased need for hypoxemia requiring oxygen therapy, urinary retention, headache during anesthesia, recovery and up to 12 hours after discharge from recovery was compared between the subjects. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 25) and Chi-square and t-test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: During anesthesia, two complications of bradycardia (P=0.041) and hypotension (P=0.036) and after anesthesia, two complications of shivering (P=0.044) and vomiting (P=0.039) 12 hours after recovery were significantly higher in women with Covid-19 than in non-Covid women. Conclusion: The complications during and after spinal anesthesia are higher in women with Covid-19 than in non-infected women, which may be related to the disease; it requires further investigation.

Keywords

• cesarean section
• covid-19
• spinal anesthesia