[Cesarean section in a morbidly obese parturient under epidural anesthesia]

A 26-yr-old morbidly obese parturient with a body mass index of 62 kg.m-2 underwent elective cesarean section for preeclampsia under epidural anesthesia. The distance between the skin and the epidural space was about 9 cm at the L3-4 interspace via mid approach. Epidural catheter was inserted 5 cm cephalad in the sitting position and a bolus of 17 ml of mepivacaine 1.5% was given in the supine position. The T5 level of analgesia was obtained 10 min later. Forty minutes after the start of the surgery, a female newborn weighing 3,206 g was delivered with an Apgar score 8 at 1 min and 9 at 5 min. Throughout the surgery, sufficient analgesia was obtained and any complications such as severe hypotension and respiratory depression did not develop. Postoperative pain was relieved sufficiently with a continuous epidural infusion of 0.25% bupivacaine at a rate of 0.5 ml.h-1 for two days. Both maternal and neonatal postpartum courses were uneventful. In conclusion, elective cesarean section in a morbidly obese parturient was successfully managed with epidural anesthesia. This indicates that an elective cesarean section under epidural anesthesia reduce the risk of perioperative complications in a morbidly obese parturient.