MATERNAL SATISFACTION TOWARDS SPINAL ANAESTHESIA FOR CAESAREAN SECTION

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background There has been an increase in the use of spinal anaesthesia for Caesarean section (CS) in Nigeria in the past decades. There is, therefore, a need to evaluate the level of satisfaction among patients that had spinal anaesthesia, as an index of the quality of reproductive health care. Methodology A prospective observational study of 380 consenting parturients in ASA classes I, II, and III, who underwent CS under spinal anaesthesia between January and December 2019. Satisfaction score was assessed using a three-point Likert scale. Data were analysed using [IBM SPSS software version-22]. The level of statistical significance was set at p-value <0.05. Results A total of 380 consenting patients underwent spinal anaesthesia within the study period with 219 (57.6%) aged ≥30 years. Most were emergency CS 267 (70.3%). Most patients 294 (77.4%) expressed satisfaction for being involved in decision-making about the choice of anaesthesia technique. The majority of the patients 333 (87.6%) were satisfied with pain relief during the operation. The complications experienced by the patients intraoperatively included dizziness, 50 (13.2%), shivering, 139 (36.6%), and intraoperative nausea and vomiting, 48 (12.6%). Overall, 295 (77.6%) of the patients expressed willingness to have spinal anaesthesia again in the future, out of the 295, 293 (99.4%) were satisfied with the current spinal anaesthesia. P = 0.000 Conclusion Maternal satisfaction to spinal anaesthesia in this study was high. This could be attributed to patient’s participation in decision-making, prompt treatment of complications, and overall good anaesthetic care.