Friday, May 25, 2012

Does Anesthesia Cause Birth Defects? Dr. Giles

Erin Giles, DO


The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in February 2011 documented committee opinion on nonobstetric surgery during pregnancy.  Nonobstetric surgery during pregnancy is a concern for all the providers involved, including anesthesiologists, obstetricians, surgeons and pediatricians.  In practice, it is a multi-disciplinary team approach in caring for the woman and fetus.  The team can decide the optimal time to proceed with surgery following the guidelines documented by committee opinion that a pregnant woman should never be denied surgery regardless of trimester, nonurgent surgery should be performed in the second trimester when spontaneous abortion and preterm complications are least likely, and elective surgery should be performed after delivery.  
As an anesthesiologist I take comfort in the generalization stated in this committee opinion that no currently used anesthetic agents have been shown to have any teratogenic effects in humans when using standard concentrations at any gestational age.  It is important to note that there is difficulty in conducting clinical trials in this patient population; therefore data is limited to support this.  Possibly further studies would give us more insight into anesthesia and teratogenicity.  In summation, this committee opinion along with a team approach can help direct our care for nonobstetric surgery during pregnancy.

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