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Recent developments in anaesthesia and patient demographics have potentially changed the practice of obstetric general anaesthesia. There are few contemporary data on Australasian practice of general anaesthesia for caesarean section, especially relating to airway management, anaesthetic techniques and complications.

Using a standardised case record form, a prospective observational study was conducted during 2005-06 in 13 maternity hospitals dealing with approximately 49 500 deliveries per annum. Patient demographics, airway management, anaesthetic techniques and major complications were evaluated in those given general anaesthesia.

Data were obtained from 1095 women receiving general anaesthesia for caesarean section, 47% of which were classified as category 1 and 18% as category 4. Tracheal intubation was planned in all cases with rapid …