CS no spinal

[velvetcandy]

Has anyone ever had a CS without the spinal first so just put straight to sleep?

CS under GA is usually only done if there is a medical reason spinal anaesthesia isn’t an option.

Why do you ask?

I’m a retired anaesthetist, and did about 400 GA sections in the days before we had suitable spinal needles for pregnant women. The old needles caused a lot of post spinal headaches, due to csf leaks, compared to modern ones.
It’s much less common to do a GA nowadays, as a spinal is safer and the mum gets to see the baby immediately on delivery.
Why are you asking, OP?

Hiya, I’ve had four CS’s and my last one was horrific when I was administered the spinal I had an electric shock type pain run down the left side of my body it was like there was acid in my blood I can’t describe it any other way. I was just curious if it was possible to do the op without the spinal that’s all x

My friend did due to major mental health issues

My sister did. She had GA with CS with my niece as can’t have spinal or Puritan as she had a blood clotting disorder so extremely high risks if needle in her spinal cord

Yes, I did. But that was because it was an emergency and there wasn't time for a spinal.

They use general anaesthetic for sections, usually in an emergency as it's faster then the spinal, so it's definitely an option. However it has some downsides, most importantly is the higher risk, but also you won't see baby when it's first born, and could be to groggy to do much or not remember the first few hours of babies life.

Speak with your consultant, they will be able to look in your notes to see what happened last time, and talk you through your options.

Another anaesthetist here... just because you’ve had that experience once does not mean it will happen again (if it only happened in one of your 4 sections then you probably realised that already). The electric shock type feelings aren’t uncommon and are due to the needle brushing past nerves as it gets close to the spot it needs to be in in order to deliver the local. While it can be unpleasant it doesn’t necessarily mean anything’s gone wrong. On a different day, in a slightly different position, with the needle angled slightly differently there may well be no electric shock feelings at all.

There are more risks with a GA in someone who’s at term pregnancy and that’s why the spinal is the default unless it’s such an emergency there’s no time or there’s a real contraindication to a spinal (and while maternal refusal is a contraindication, I think most places would probably try to find a way to make a spinal more acceptable rather than expose someone to the increased risk of GA because of fear of something that may not actually happen again). As well as being slightly higher risk from an anaesthetic point of view there may also be more bleeding with a GA which may be relevant. It is probably a good idea to ask to see an obstetric anaesthetist in clinic before your planned delivery date so they can explain what happened in more detail, anticipate if there are particular risk factors for either a spinal or GA that are specific to you and this pregnancy and make a plan for the day that’s as safe as possible and not terrifying. Good luck! :-)

I had the electric shock thing, it took over half an hour to site my spinal and my back was a real scabby bruised mess from all the attempts.

Turns out I have a mild scoliosis which is why it was so hard. I am not going to have any more children, but that would need dealing with if I did.

You don’t say if you are pregnant? And if it is a 5th CS that would have increased risk to start. There will be a lot of things to consider which only your medical team would be able to answer. If you are thinking about a 5th CS might be better discussing your risks and options before you get pregnant..

We were thinking about having another baby but I don’t think I can go through a spinal like that again. I’ve had two fine CS one bad and one horrific. During the last I ended up being put under GA anyway and went throu all that pain for no reason. I know consultants etc don’t like doing GA but I don’t think I want to be pushed into having another spinal. Thanks for your replies very helpful x

I had a C-section under GA as my platelets dropped dramatically the morning if my elective and they didn't want to risk a spinal. It was fine but I would have preferred to meet my baby right after she was born instead of hours later. I don't remember the first few hours with her or the first time I breast feed her as I was groggy from the GA. The GA affected her too and she had to be resuscitated as she wasn't breathing on her own when she was born and they gave her an anti opiate injection to counter the GA.

@MariaDingbat did you wake up with pain in your tummy without the spinal?

It was a bit sore from the operation and made a bit worse because I couldn't have any anti-inflammatory painkillers for a few days until my platlets went back to normal. I stayed in bed for about 15 hours until they got me the right painkillers, but then was able to get up and move about without too much pain. I don't remember it being terrible, I was a little out of it from the GA, but the nurses and midwives took great care of me.