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Copyright of Anaesthesiology & Intensive Medicine / Anesteziologie a Intenzivní Medicína is the property of Czech Medical Association of JE Purkyne and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Postdural puncture headache (PDPH) is a relatively common iatrogenic complication (about 1% of all neuroaxial punctures) in obstetrics. The reasons for higher incidence in pregnant women compared to the general patient population are mainly the physiological and pathophysiological differences in pregnant women, but also the increasing number of neuroaxial blockades used. Because untreated postdural puncture syndrome can result in fatal complications, the basic principle of treatment is a complex multimodal approach consisting of all available conservative and invasive therapies, adequate communication and psychological support of the patient. The aim of this article is to provide an overview and current views on the pathophysiology and treatment of this complication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Anaesthesiology & Intensive Medicine / Anesteziologie a Intenzivní Medicína is the property of Czech Medical Association of JE Purkyne and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Nearly a quarter of all births in the Czech Republic end by caesarean section in the recent years. With the increasing age of mothers, number of comorbidities, deliveries after previous caesarean section and many other causes, it can be assumed that this trend will continue to rise despite all the efforts to change it. This negative trend is also influenced by the decreasing willingness of obstetricians to "risk" spontaneous labour in borderline obstetric situations. The growing number of caesarean sections increases the importance and influence of anaesthesia. As well as elsewhere in the world, we register the rise of regional anaesthesia in comparison to general anaesthesia in the past 20 years, so at present regional anaesthesia in caesarean delivery prevails. A review of the actual numbers however shows the alarming gap between the Czech Republic and the rest of the world. In 2011 regional anaesthesia for caesarean section was administered in 53% of cases and general anaesthesia in 47% in the Czech Republic. For comparison, general anaesthesia for caesarean section does not exceed 10--15% in most of the developed world. The causes include the conservatism of Czech obstetrics and the reluctance of obstetricians in many departments to regional anaesthesia techniques, but perhaps also the lack of availability of "local" experiences published in the Czech medical journals. Therefore ESPAA in this article aims to summarize the current experience and recommendations for caesarean section under regional anesthesia to support the sites where some concerns to regional techniques still remain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the following series of articles about Caesarean Section is to provide a contemporary view of the most important procedures in anaesthesia for Caesarean Section and to open up some as yet possibly controversial topics. This review is based mainly on the current literature and summarizes the consensus views of Expert Group for Obstetric Anaesthesia and Analgesia (ESPA), who work as an expert committee of CSARIM. One of the main ESPA's goals is the presentation and moderation of current topics in obstetric anaesthesia in Anesteziologie & intenzivni medicina, the most read medical Czech journal of our specialty. The first step then is this four-part series „Current practice in obstetric anaesthesia" with the objective to summarize current trends, and also to comment and 'translate' the contents to the Czech hospital environment and practice. In this first part the topics of choice are anaesthesia for Caesarean delivery, oxygen therapy, thromboprophylaxis, hypotension, severe hypertension and administration of oxytocin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]