Relationship between abdominal circumference and body mass index (BMI) with neural block level in pregnant women under cesarean section with spinal anesthesia

Abstract

Spinal anesthesia is a simple, safe and fast method of anesthesia, and today is used as a technique of choice in cesarean surgery. Nowadays, obesity has been named as one of the most important diseases of the century, the prevalence of it is increasing in women, followed by pregnant women; Therefore, the prevalence of obese pregnant patients in the operating room has increased, and performing anesthesia for these people has always been one of the most challenging cases for the anesthesiologist. the aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship of BMI and abdominal circumference with neural sensory block level and incidence of related hypotension after cesarean surgery in pregnant women. Materials and Methods: 120 pregnant women without any exclusion criteria and having informed consent were included in this study. The patients were ASA class I or II in the range of 18-45, assigned for cesarean section. Demographic characteristics as well as sensory and sympathic block level and the total dose of vasopressor all were calculated and recorded. Results: patients showed significant association between abdominal circumference and sensory block level(p<0.05). but there was not any significant difference between BMI and sensory block level and between abdominal circumference and BMI with the incidence of hypotension and administered vasopressor dosage (p>0.05).