Anaesthesia | Obstetrics | Regional Analgesia 6: Managing Serious Complications

Regional Analgesia 6: Managing Serious Complications
Session Overview
Description
This session outlines the serious and sometimes irreversible complications of obstetric epidurals and spinals and their immediate management.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• List the serious complications associated with obstetric spinals and epidurals
• Describe each complication
• Recognize how each complication presents
• Describe immediate management of each complication

Prerequisites
Before commencing this session you should complete:

• Module 04a/Regional analgesia & anaesthesia/Regional analgesia 5: managing common complications (001-0380)

Obstetric regional analgesia and anaesthetic practice are safe, particularly if conducted according to protocols or guidelines and with appropriate knowledge of the altered physiology of pregnancy.

Major complications are rare, but prompt and effective management may be crucial to ensure an outcome with minimum or no harm.

For the purposes of this session, major complications are:

• High and total spinal anaesthesia
• Systemic toxicity
• Drug errors (wrong route errors)
• Anaphylaxis
• Accidental dural puncture (ADP) and post-dural puncture headache (PDPH)
• Neurological complications