Complicaciones anestésicas en pacientes con preeclampsia con criterios de severidad

OBJECTIVE: To describe anesthetic complications in patients with pre-eclampsia with severity criteria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Observational, retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted in a tertiary care center in the city of Medellin, Colombia, between January 2016 and January 2021. The source of information was medical records. Inclusion criteria: pregnant patients, with pre-eclampsia with severity criteria, who received neuroaxial or general anesthesia. Exclusion criteria: patients with previous diagnosis of coagulopathies and with other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy unrelated to preeclampsia with severe characteristics. Non-probability sampling of consecutive cases and univariate analysis were performed. RESULTS: Fifty-eight patients were included; 69% terminated the pregnancy by cesarean section. Eighty-nine.4% received neuroaxial anesthesia and 10.6% general anesthesia. 29.9% were admitted to intensive care, 4.7% had hypotension, 3.9% required vasopressor support, 3.7% had difficult airway, 0.98% required mechanical ventilation. One patient had pulmonary edema and one patient had hemorrhagic stroke. Urinary retention occurred in 1.5% of patients receiving spinal anesthesia. The incidence of failed neuroaxial anesthesia was 1.4% for labor and 1.3% for cesarean section. There were no cases of death, meningitis, arachnoiditis, paraplegia, accidental dura puncture, or allergic reaction. CONCLUSIONS: Neuroaxial anesthesia remains the anesthetic technique of choice in patients with pre-eclampsia with severity criteria. The most common anesthetic complications were ICU admission, hypotension, and need for vasopressor support.