Our anesthesia experiences in COVID‐19 positive patients delivering by cesarean section: A retrospective single‐center cohort study

Karasu, Derya; Kilicarslan, Nermin; Ozgunay, Seyda Efsun; Gurbuz, Hande

AIM: Pregnancy increases susceptibility to respiratory complications of viral diseases. This study aims to evaluate our anesthesia practices in pregnant women with COVID‐19 undergoing cesarean section. METHODS: A total of 61 patients who underwent cesarean section and had positive Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for COVID‐19 with nasopharyngeal swabs were included in the study. Patient demographics and information about anesthesia were analyzed retrospectively from the patient medical files. RESULTS: A total of 61 parturients undergoing cesarean section that had positive SARS‐CoV‐2 PCR tests were assessed. General anesthesia was applied to only three patients (4.9%), while spinal anesthesia was administered to the remaining 58 patients (95.1%). The incidence of hypotension was 25.9% in the spinal anesthesia group. Forty‐one (67.2%) parturients were asymptomatic. While the rate of pneumonia in symptomatic patients was 45% (9/20), the pneumonia incidence among all SARS‐CoV‐2 PCR (+) parturients was 14% (9/61). Three (4.9%) COVID‐19 patients required intensive care in the perioperative period. The overall mortality rate was 1.6% (1/61) among parturients with COVID‐19 undergoing cesarean section, while it was 11.1% (1/9) in patients with pneumonia. CONCLUSION: It was observed that COVID‐19 is associated with mortality in pregnant women undergoing cesarean section. Spinal anesthesia was safely and effectively administered in COVID‐19 parturients, especially in patients with pneumonia.