[Prevention of aspiration in obstetric patients in Denmark]

Women about to undergo Caesarean section are especially prone to suffer from aspiration of acid gastric contents into the lungs during anaesthesia. Physiological changes in the pregnant patient make gastric emptying time unpredictable. It therefore seems prudent to establish procedures in order to minimize the risk of aspiration of gastric contents. This survey reveals that 25% of the obstetric-anaesthesiological departments in Denmark employ pharmacological prophylaxis for aspiration of acid gastric contents. This finding is in contrast to a similar survey in the United Kingdom, where 99 to 100% of the Caesarean sections are carried out under pharmacological prophylaxis for aspiration of acid gastric contents.