Abstract:

Background: obstetric anaesthesia recommends that caesarean sections are done under regional anaesthesia, but there are conditions for which regional anaesthesia is contraindicated, so in those conditions general anaesthesia is the only choice.

For general anaesthesia thiopental 4-5mg/kg l and propofol 2,5mg/kg are both used for caesarean section.

Methods: we have reviewed articles from 1989 up to 2016 comparing the use of thiopental to propofol in caesarean sections.

Result: a total of 20 published articles and abstracts from 1989 up to 2016 were reviewed. These articles show that propofol was the best alternative drug for general anaesthesia induction in caesarean section and has few disadvantages according to the neonate Apgar score at one minute.

Conclusions: these articles reviewed show that propofol is currently the most commonly used induction agent and alternative for obstetric general anaesthesia and has better neonatal and maternal outcomes post operation than thiopental.

Keywords: propofol, obstetric anaesthesia, thiopental, caesarean section

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