Anaesthesia related complications following caesarean delivery necessitating intensive care unit admissions in a tertiary centre

Abstract

To determine the anaesthesia-related complications after caesarean section in a tertiary hospital, the hospital records of parturients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after caesarean section were studied. In a ten-year period, 2,686 women were delivered by caesarean section at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City. Two thousand one hundred and two (78.3%) had emergency caesarean section while 584 (21.7%) had elective caesarean section. Of these, 2597 (96.7%) had general anaesthesia (GA) and 89 (3.3%) regional anaesthesia (RA). Within this period, 30 paturients (1.1%) were admitted to the ICU; one was after elective caesarean and 29 (96.7%) were after emergency caesarean section. Fifteen patients were admitted for anaesthesia-related complications, of which all were after caesarean section done under GA. The incidence of a major anaesthetic complication resulting in ICU admission was 15 in 2597 GA while it was zero in 89 RA (p < 0.01). Total maternal deaths in the ICU admissions were 11(36.7%); anaesthesia being directly the cause of death in 3 (27.3%) while non-anaesthetic factors accounted for 8 (72.7%) deaths. Emergency caesarean section and GA, were risk factors for anaesthesia-related morbidities after caesarean section. Preventable deaths due to poor laboratory support services and inadequate anaesthetic materials accounted for the anaesthesia-related mortalities.