A Prospective Observational Study of the Change in Regional Cerebral Oxygen Saturation During Cesarean Delivery in Women Receiving Phenylephrine Prophylaxis for Spinal Hypotension

Abstract

(Int J Obstet Anesth. 2019;37:29–35) During cesarean delivery (CD) performed under spinal anesthesia, the incidence of hypotension has been reported to be as high as 70% to 80%. Previous studies have shown that this spinal-induced hypotension leads to decreased regional cerebral oxygen saturation (ScO2), and treatment with ephedrine has returned ScO2 to baseline levels. In current practice, though, a prophylactic phenylephrine infusion is frequently used to prevent spinal hypotension during CD. There has been limited research on the effect of phenylephrine on ScO2. This prospective, observational cohort study was performed to investigate the change in ScO2 using near infrared spectroscopy in women receiving a prophylactic phenylephrine infusion during CD under spinal anesthesia.