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Placental abruption occurring soon after labor combined spinal-epidural analgesia
1Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
Abstract:
We present a case of placental abruption necessitating emergency cesarean section in an otherwise uncomplicated patient soon after initiation of combined spinal-epidural analgesia in labor. Administration of spinal opioids has the potential to cause fetal bradycardia due to uterine hypertonicity following rapid onset of analgesia. In this case, a previously bloody show before placement of combined spinal-epidural analgesia may have been evidence of a small abruption. We hypothesize that uterine hypertonicity following administration of spinal opioids may have hastened the development of an existing placental abruption.
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