International journal of obstetric anesthesia
-
Int J Obstet Anesth · May 2016
Case ReportsEarly postpartum mitral valve thrombosis requiring extra corporeal membrane oxygenation before successful valve replacement.
Pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of thrombosis in women with mechanical prosthetic heart valves. We present the case of a 29-year-old woman who developed early postpartum mitral valve thrombus after an elective cesarean delivery. The patient had a mechanical mitral valve and was treated with warfarin in the second trimester, which was replaced with high-dose dalteparin during late pregnancy. ⋯ Transesophageal echocardiography revealed a mitral valve thrombus. The patient underwent a successful mitral valve replacement after three days on extra corporeal membrane oxygenation. This case highlights the importance of multidisciplinary care and frequent monitoring of anticoagulation during care of pregnant women with prosthetic heart valves.
-
Int J Obstet Anesth · May 2016
Comparative StudyCatheter failure rates and time course with epidural versus combined spinal-epidural analgesia in labor.
The combined spinal-epidural technique for labor analgesia has several advantages over the traditional epidural technique, including faster onset, greater maternal satisfaction, and decreased need for physician boluses. Proponents of the epidural technique criticize the combined spinal-epidural technique, arguing that the epidural catheter remains untested and thus may not be reliable if needed for surgical intervention. We compared failure rates and time of failure between techniques in our tertiary-care academic practice. ⋯ We were able to demonstrate that catheters placed using a combined spinal-epidural technique were less likely to fail during labor and that the time to detection of a failed catheter was significantly longer in the combined spinal-epidural group. Our findings validate the combined spinal-epidural technique as reliable for labor analgesia and tend to refute the theory of the untested catheter.
-
Int J Obstet Anesth · May 2016
Letter Case ReportsSevere compression of the inferior vena cava during cesarean section.