General vs. Regional Anesthesia and Neonatal Data (GRAND). A
Retrospective Propensity Score Matched Study.
Abstract
Objective To evaluate whether there is a difference in immediate
neonatal outcomes with general anesthesia (GA) vs. regional anesthesia
(RA) when induction of anesthesia to delivery time (IADT) is prolonged
(≥10 minutes). Methods This is a retrospective case-control study that
included cases from July 2014 until August 2020. We reviewed all
singleton pregnancies delivered between 24 and 42 weeks of gestation
with IADT ≥ 10 minutes. The propensity score (PS) matching method was
performed using baseline characteristics. Analyses were performed with
SAS software version 9.4. Results During the study period, we identified
258 cases meeting inclusion criteria. After the PS matching was applied,
the study sample was reduced to 60 cases in each group. The median IADT
was similar between groups [41.5m (30.5,52) vs. 46m (38-53.5),
p=0.2]. There was no significant difference between groups with
respect to arterial cord pH [7.24 (7.21,7.26) vs. 7.23 (7.2,7.27),
p=0.7]. Nor were there any associations between maternal
characteristics and Apgar score at 5 minutes except Apgar score at 1
minute (p<0.001). No significant difference was identified in
the rate of admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) [11
(52.4) vs. 10 (47.60], p=0.8] or NICU length of stay between GA vs.
RA [4(3-14) vs. 4.5(3-11), p=0.9]. Conclusion Our data indicate that
with prolonged IADT, favorable neonatal outcomes are seen with both GA
and RA, in contrast with previous studies performed decades ago. This
underscores the need for re-appraisal of historic outcomes reflecting
new modalities, techniques, and advances in the medical field.