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Airway Management and Mechanical Ventilation in Pregnancy

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Pulmonary Problems in Pregnancy

Part of the book series: Respiratory Medicine ((RM))

Abstract

Anesthesia-related maternal mortality rates have improved in the United States, but it still remains a prominent cause of maternal mortality. Anesthesia is the seventh leading cause of maternal mortality in the United States with the top six causes being embolism, hypertensive disorders, hemorrhage, infection, cardiomyopathy, and cerebrovascular accident (1). General anesthesia is more likely to be associated with maternal mortality than regional anesthesia in the obstetric patient for the following reasons: (1) airway management tends to be more difficult in pregnant patients due to altered anatomy and physiology; (2) general anesthesia is chosen in emergency surgeries when there is no time for adequate preoperative evaluation and aspiration prophylaxis; (3) conversion of regional anesthetic to general anesthesia for inadequate block, hemorrhage, etc., with the patient not in the optimal position for intubation; and (4) increased usage of regional anesthesia in obstetrics with minimal exposure of trainees to general anesthesia for cesarean sections, resulting in decreased airway management skills for training and maintenance in the obstetric patient.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology Department of Anesthesiology, Baylor College of Medicine, 1709 Dryden Street, Suite 1700, Houston, TX 77030, USA

    Uma Munnur MD

  2. Associate Professor Department of Medicine Pulmonary and Critical Care, Baylor College of Medicine, 1504 Taub Loop, Houston, TX 77005, USA

    Venkata Dp Bandi MD

  3. Professor and Vice Chairman Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care Professor of Physiology – Director, Critical Care Medicine, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Ave., Room M917, San Francisco, CA 94143-0624, USA

    Michael A. Gropper MD, PhD

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  1. Uma Munnur MD
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  2. Venkata Dp Bandi MD
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  3. Michael A. Gropper MD, PhD
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    © 2009 Humana Press, a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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    Munnur, U., Bandi, V.D., Gropper, M.A. (2009). Airway Management and Mechanical Ventilation in Pregnancy. In: Rosene-Montella, K., Bourjeily, G. (eds) Pulmonary Problems in Pregnancy. Respiratory Medicine. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-445-2_23

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-445-2_23

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