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Further study is needed to determine the safest mode of delivery and anesthetic management for parturients with ventriculoperitoneal shunts (VP). Prior recommendation for delivery in women with ventriculoperitoneal shunts was cesarean delivery. However, both vaginal delivery and neuraxial anesthesia have been shown to be safe in women with appropriately functioning VP shunts. We present a case series of parturients with VP shunt. Parturients with VP shunts were identified and VP shunt placement indications, neurologic symptoms during pregnancy, delivery mode, anesthetic type, and postpartum complications were reviewed. Forty patients were identified, and fifteen women with twenty deliveries were included. Two women experienced neurological symptoms during pregnancy and one required postpartum shunt revision for blurry vision and ataxia. There were ten cesarean deliveries and ten vaginal deliveries (eight normal spontaneous, one vacuum assisted, and one forceps assisted). Assisted vaginal deliveries were performed to decrease Valsalva including the patient with neurological symptoms related to shunt malfunction. Of the vaginal deliveries, six (60%) had epidural analgesia. Anesthesia for cesarean delivery included neuraxial anesthesia (n = 5) and general anesthesia (n = 5). In our cohort, women with VP shunt received neuraxial blockade without complication. Neuraxial techniques should be offered to women with appropriately functioning VP shunt., (© 2024. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists.)

Selective dorsal rhizotomy is a surgical spine procedure used to reduce spasticity in patients with upper motor neuron dysfunction caused by conditions such as cerebral palsy. The optimal anesthetic approach for obstetric patients who have undergone a selective dorsal rhizotomy is unknown. The use and efficacy of neuraxial anesthesia in these patients has not been described. We describe the use of neuraxial anesthesia in two patients with prior selective dorsal rhizotomy. Unless contraindicated for other reasons, a neuraxial anesthetic approach appears to be an effective option in patients with a history of a selective dorsal rhizotomy., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

With improvements in management and rehabilitation, more women with spinal cord injury are conceiving children. Physiologic manifestations of spinal cord injury can complicate anesthetic management during labor and delivery. Patients who delivered at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota between January 1, 2001 and May 31, 2012 with a history of traumatic spinal cord injury were identified via electronic record search of all parturients. Eight patients undergoing nine deliveries were identified. Six deliveries (67%) among five patients (63%) involved a trial of labor. Among these deliveries, three (50%) occurred vaginally, all with successful epidural analgesia. Trial of labor failed in the remaining three patients, and required cesarean delivery facilitated via epidural (n=1), spinal (n=1) and general anesthesia (n=1). Three patients (33%) underwent scheduled cesarean delivery via epidural (n=1), spinal (n=1), and general anesthesia (n=1). Four patients having five deliveries had a history of autonomic hyperreflexia before pregnancy. One patient had symptoms during pregnancy, two patients had episodes during labor and delivery, and three patients described symptoms in the immediate postpartum period. These symptoms were not reported by any patient without a history of autonomic hyperreflexia. Neuraxial labor analgesia may have a higher failure rate in patients with spinal cord injury, possibly related to the presence of Harrington rods. Postpartum exacerbations of autonomic hyperreflexia are common in patients with a history of the disorder., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)