Ob/Gyn

Question 1

Common side effect of epidural anesthesia?

Answer 1

Hypotension due to blockade of the sympathetic fibers. You get vasodilation and pooling of venous blood. You can prevent this by doing aggressive volume expansion prior to placement of the epidural.

Question 2

Dangerous complication of epidural anesthesia?

Answer 2

High spinal or total spinal anesthesia–total depression of the cervical/brainstem activity. Characterized by hypotension, bradycardia, respiratory difficulty, and eventually cardiac arrest.