Anaesthesia in Caesarean section in the FRG in 1997.

A survey of all German hospitals providing obstetric anaesthesia in 1997 (n =1061, recovery rate 82% comprising 115 000 Caesarean sections revealed that most Caesarean sections (CS) are performed under general anaesthesia (GA). For elective CS, the average was 63 %, and 82 % for urgent (not emergency) section. Succinylcholine is the standard neuromuscular blocker for intubation. Of the regional techniques, epidural continuous anaesthesia (ED) is preferred for elective CS (59 %) over subarachnoid (SA, 10 %) and combined epidural and subarachnoid anaesthesia (CSE). In urgent CS, SA is used more often (56 %) than ED (42 %) and CSE. With increasing number of births per year, the use of regional techniques is more common.