REVIEW ARTICLES   Free access

Minerva Anestesiologica 2007 April;73(4):235-40

Copyright © 2007 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Anesthesia for non-obstetric surgery in the pregnant patient

Van De Velde M., De Buck F.

Department of Anesthesiolog, University Hospitals Gasthuisberg, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Surgery during pregnancy is relatively common. The present review of the literature will focus on relevant issues such as maternal safety during non-obstetric surgery in pregnancy, teratogenicity of anesthetic drugs, the avoidance of fetal asphyxia, the prevention of preterm labor, the safety of laparoscopy, the need to monitor the fetal heart rate and will finally give a practical approach to manage these patients.