Pregnancy and COVID-19

Pregnancy is a physiological state that alters the body’s response to infections. COVID-19 has been found to cause severe disease in pregnancy with morbidity and mortality that is higher than in non-pregnant adults. There is risk of transmission of SARS-CoV2 infection to fetus during ante-natal period, intra-partum and post-delivery from an infected mother. It is necessary to provide an un-interrupted ante-natal care and delivery services to pregnant women during the pandemic. Tele-consultation is important modality to reduce the physical exposure of pregnant women to the hospital environment and should be utilised. Screening, isolation, testing and treatment for SARS-CoV2 infection in pregnant women should follow the local guidelines and remain essentially the same as in non-pregnant adults. Admission, if required, should be in a facility that can provide obstetric maternal and fetal monitoring in addition to care for COVID-19 illness. Use of nitrous oxide and inhalational oxygen for fetal indication should be avoided during labor. Second stage of labor is considered an aerosol generating procedure and should be managed with adequate precautions. Mode of delivery should be as per obstetric indications. Regional anaesthesia should be preferred during caesarean. COVID-19 is not a contra-indication to breast feeding. For antenatal women, COVID-19 vaccination can be considered after shared decision making

Prospective study to evaluate management of ectopic pregnancy in a tertiary care centre

Background: To study the pattern of management of ectopic pregnancy in a referral Centre in North India.Methods: This prospective study was conducted over a period of one year in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, in a tertiary care Centre in North India. Total number of cases who reported to hospital with ectopic pregnancy during the study period were 110. All the cases were analyzed and managed either with conservative, medical or surgical treatment depending on the condition of cases at the time of presentation to the hospital. Frequencies of different variables were compared by chi square test using Graphpad Prism 9, p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The incidence of ectopic pregnancies reported in present study was 18.62 per 1,000 deliveries. Total of 110 cases with ectopic pregnancy reported to hospital during the study period. Mean age of the cases was 28.72 years. Out of 110 cases, laparotomy was performed in 100 cases and medical management in 10 cases. Medical management failed in one case and necessitated surgery in that case. There was no maternal mortality during the study period.Conclusion: Most of the cases presented late to the hospital due to lack of awareness, topographically tough terrain in Himachal with limited transport facilities which delayed management of ectopic pregnancy and precludes conservative management either in the form of medical management or conservative surgery. Screening of high-risk cases, early diagnosis, early referral and early intervention reduces the maternal mortality and morbidity. So awareness at the primary health care level is the necessity of the hour

Safe obstetric anesthesia practice-COVID-19

COVID-19 or Corona virus disease 2019 was declared a pandemic by the WHO on 11th March 2020. Cesarean delivery is a commonly performed major surgery around the world. Important considerations while performing a cesarean section on a confirmed or suspected case of COVID19 are safety of the woman and the fetus; and prevention of transmission of SARS-CoV2 infection to the fetus as well as the healthcare providers. Woman and her birthing partner should be screened for the symptoms of COVID-19 before scheduled admission. Cesarean section in a woman suffering from COVID-19 should be managed by a multidisciplinary team consisting of anesthetists, obstetricians, labor and delivery nurses, neonatologist, critical care experts and infectious disease specialists, all members working in tandem with each other. General changes in workflow, reorganization of obstetric anesthesia services and proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) are required for safe delivery of obstetric anesthesia during the COVID pandemic. Regional anesthesia is the preferred method of anesthesia for cesarean delivery. Using regional anesthesia reduces the need of aerosol generating procedures and avoids the use of mechanical ventilation. It also decreases the possibility of exacerbating the respiratory complications due to intubation. General anesthesia is recommended when a COVID-19 parturient presents with desaturation (oxygen saturation≤ 93%) for emergency cesarean delivery. Use of mechanical barriers around patient’s head during intubation and extubation might reduce exposure. The patient should be allowed to remain in the operating room itself till sufficiently recovered to be shifted directly to the isolation room

Accuracy and reliability of ultrasound estimation of fetal weight in women with a singleton term pregnancy

Background: Prenatal estimation of birth-weight is of utmost importance to predict the mode of delivery. This is also an important parameter of antenatal care. This study was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of estimated fetal weight by ultrasound, compared with actual birth weight.Methods: This was a prospective and comparative study comprising 110 pregnant women at term. Patients who had their sonography done within 7 days from date of delivery were included. Fetal weight was estimated by Hadlock 2 formula, the software of which was preinstalled in ultrasound-machine. The estimated fetal weight was compared to the post-delivery birth-weight. The Pearson's correlation coefficient was used and the accuracy of sonographic fetal weight estimation was evaluated using mean error, mean absolute error, mean percentage error, mean absolute percentage error and proportion of estimates within 10% of actual birth weight.Results: Mean estimated and actual birth weights were 3120.8±349.4 gm and 3088.2±404.5 g respectively. There was strong positive correlation between estimated fetal weight and actual birth weight (r = 0.58, p<0.001). The mean percentage error and mean absolute percentage error of ultrasound fetal weight estimations were 1.96±11.8% and 8.7±8.2% respectively. The percentage of estimates within ±10% of the actual birth weight was found to be 67.3%. In 23% of the cases, ultrasound overestimated the birth weight. In 13% of the cases, ultrasound underestimated the birth weight.Conclusions: There was strong positive correlation between actual and sonographically estimated fetal weight. So, ultrasonography can be considered as useful tool for estimating the fetal weight for improving the perinatal outcome

Puerperal sub-acute uterine inversion: a rare case report

Puerperal uterine inversion is a complication of third stage of labour, which can lead to maternal morbidity and mortality due to haemorrhage shock and infection. Early cases can be managed by manual reposition of uterus but neglected or late cases of uterine inversion are managed by Haultain`s repair. Here we are presenting a case of subacute uterine inversion referred from peripheral hospital managed by Haultain’s technique

Spinal Tuberculosis with Paraplegia in Pregnancy: a Case Report with Management of Spinal TB in Pregnancy

Spinal tuberculosis leading to paraplegia is uncommon in pregnancy and is a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. We report a case of tubercular paraplegia presenting at 35 weeks of gestation. She was managed with Anti-tubercular drugs and did not require surgical intervention. Her neurological status improved and she was allowed to go in labour. She delivered a healthy term infant by cesarean. At three months follow-up, both mother and child are doing well.  Keywords: paraplegia; pregnancy; spinal tuberculosis

Comparison of clonidine with bupivaicaine vs plain bupivaicaine in transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block in women undergoing cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia: Randomized clinical trial

Introduction: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a technique of regional anesthesia, introduced by Rafi in 2001. Various additives have been added to prolong the duration of effect of TAP block. We conducted this study to see if addition of clonidine to bupivacaine significantly increases the duration of effect of TAP block. Materials and Methods: This randomized, parallel group, placebo controlled double blind clinical trial was conducted on 100 healthy participants (ASAII) undergoing LSCS under Spinal anesthesia (SA) from Jan 2021 to July 2021 after consent of Institutional Ethics Committee. Women with contraindications to spinal anesthesia, allergy to any of the drugs or not-suitable for cesarean under SA were excluded. After written informed consent, eligible participants were randomly allocated into two groups using computer generated random number tables using serially numbered opaque sealed envelopes. 48 out of 50 participants in group A (Bupivacaine) were given TAP block with 20 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine bilaterally. 2 women were excluded because of conversion to General Anesthesia. Similarly, 47 out of 50 participants in Group B (Bupivacaine + Clonidine) were given TAP block with 20 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine plus 1.0 mcg/kg clonidine bilaterally after completion of surgery using 18 G Tuohy needle. Separate person used to fill the drugs for block. Participants were assessed for duration of analgesic effect of TAP block measured as the time to request for additional analgesia. Additional analgesic requirement was noted. Participants were assessed for side effects of clonidine like hypotension, bradycardia, sedation and dryness of mouth. Overall patient satisfaction was also noted. Data was analysed using Graphpad Prism 9, using Student's t-test for primary outcome and Mann–Whitney U test for secondary outcomes. Results: The mean 'duration of analgesic effect with TAP block' was 6.34 (SD1.26) hrs for 'Bupivacaine' group and 10.56 (SD2.12) hrs for 'Bupivacaine + Clonidine' group. None of the patients developed hypotension or bradycardia. 25% participants in Bupivacaine only group and 40.42% in Bupivacaine + Clonidine group were sedated (P < 0.05). 20.8% in 'Bupivacaine' group and 51.06% in 'Bupivacaine + Clonidine' group had dryness of mouth (P < 0.001). Patient satisfaction was equal in both the groups. Conclusion: Addition of clonidine to bupivacaine in the dose of 1 mcg/kg significantly increases the duration of analgesic effect of TAP block, decreases analgesic usage without significant increase in side effects