[Case report: patient with needle phobia for caesarean section - not quite as in a textbook …]

In a 20-year old parturient general anesthesia is induced by inhalation and without venous access because of severe needle phobia. This article discusses risks associated with inhalational induction of anesthesia in this special situation. It deals with needle phobia, an anxiety disorder belonging to the group of blood-injury-injection phobia. This psychic illness can cause severe problems for the anaesthetic management in acute or in elective situations.