Effect of General Anesthesia Compared to Regional Anesthesia on the Apgar Score of Neonates

Background : cesarean section (CS) is one of the common operations performed in obstetric practice worldwide; it can be conducted as elective or emergency operation. Objective : to assess the effect of different types of anesthesia used during conducting elective cesarean sections (CS) on the health of neonates by using the Apgar score. Method : a prospective study conducted in Royal medical Services hospitals in Jordan between Jan. 2011 and May 2012.All pregnant women planned for elective CS were included in this study. Women of eventful pregnancy or intra uterine fetal growth retardation or malformation were excluded from the study. 161 healthy pregnant women underwent elective CS were included in this study. The patients were divided into 3 groups; the 1st one received general anaesthesia (GA) (group A) and consists of 104 patients, group B consists of patients who received spinal anesthesia (42 patients) and group C consists of patients who received epidural anesthesia (15 patients). Results : at one minute 62.5% of patients in group A had normal Apgar score while in group B and C about 80% had normal scores. At five minutes 87.5% of patients in group A had normal Apgar score while in group B and C about 93% had normal scores. There was no statically difference between the three groups in regard to Apgar score at 10 minutes. Conclusion : General anesthesia adversely influences the short term outcome of infants born to mothers by elective cesarean section. Regional anesthesia is safe and well tolerated for the mother and the neonate and should be considered when there is a choice during cesarean section. Key words : Apgar score, Cesarean section, General Anesthesia, Regional anesthesia.