• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

Cutting-edge: New and improved drug to counter spinal anesthesia blues during C-sections

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
May 7, 2021
in Health
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
ADVERTISEMENT
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

New study evaluating drugs to counteract the hypotensive effects of spinal anesthesia during cesarean deliveries finds that one can even benefit the baby

IMAGE

Credit: Chinese Medical Journal

Today, deliveries via cesarean sections, or c-sections, have become quite common globally. Sometimes, c-sections are a medical necessity when normal deliveries become risky either for the mother or the baby. At other times, it can be a choice. C-sections today have become a considerably safer procedure than it was a few decades ago, but there is need to refine it further.

In a recent study published in Chinese Medical Journal, researchers from China have settled the debate on one important aspect of refining the procedure: the choice of drug to counteract the side effects of the spinal anesthesia required.

C-sections are performed under general anesthesia or spinal anesthesia. With the latter, there can be one key complication: hypotension, or low blood pressure. This can simply make the mother nauseous, or it can have graver consequences such as compromising the fetus. To avoid these problems, medical practitioners typically administer vasopressors, drugs meant to raise the blood pressure to normal levels, as preventatives before giving the spinal anesthesia.

However, a commonly used vasopressor, ephedrine, too can have undesirable effects, some on the fetus, such as increasing fetal heart rate and causing fetal acidosis (a condition in which the proportion of acids in the bodily fluids rises). Studies have also shown that it is slow acting. Recently, an alternative has begun to be employed: norepinephrine. Norepinephrine has shown fewer effects on the heart rate and is faster acting, making it potentially a better alternative to ephedrine. But to date, there are few head to head comparisons of the two.

To understand whether norepinephrine really is the better choice, the team of researchers from China, led by Dr. Zhi-Hong Lu of the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at the Fourth Military Medical University in Shanghai, conducted a clinical trial.

They enlisted 177 expecting mothers scheduled to undergo c-sections and randomly divided them into groups receiving one of two protocols: norepinephrine infusion for 30 minutes just before spinal anesthesia or a quick dose of ephedrine just before the spinal anesthesia. These are standard protocols for administering these vassopressors.

The team then evaluated various factors like the incidence of hypotension within 30 minutes of spinal anesthesia administration, the conditions of the mother and baby 30 minutes after spinal anesthesia, and the degree of oxygenation in the cerebral region–the uppermost part–of the baby’ brain 10 minutes after birth.

They found that fewer mothers who had received norepinephrine suffered from hypotension than those who received ephedrine. Similarly, the frequency of tachycardia, a condition characterized by irregularly fast heartbeats, was lower in mothers given norepinephrine than those administered with ephedrine. The former were also less likely to experience nausea and vomiting.

As for the physical condition of the newborn, including heart rate, effort required for respiration, tone of muscles, stimulation response, and coloration of skin, there weren’t significant differences between the two groups. The cord blood gas levels, which indicate metabolic conditions in the newborn, weren’t different between the two groups either.

One exception to this trend in newborns, or neonates, was the cerebral oxygenation level. As Dr. Lu has explained, “Neonatal cerebral regional saturations were significantly higher after birth in the norepinephrine group than in the ephedrine group. This indicates that norepinephrine can has potential neonatal benefits as well, which ephedrine does not have. The routine use of this norepinephrine regimen could help reduce neonate neurocognitive complications.”

Overall, this study seems to indicate that norepinephrine infusion should be the preferred vasopressor protocol for c-sections. Dr. Lu says, “Further research is required to optimize the regimen to clarify norepinephrine’s neonatal benefits and maximizing them. But for now, it appears that its fixed-rate infusion is more effective than the ephedrine protocol for people undergoing elective c-section.”

This is the first step to delivering better care at literally the dawn of the future generations.

###

Reference

Titles of original papers: Comparison of two vasopressor protocols for preventing hypotension post-spinal anesthesia during cesarean section: a randomized controlled trial

Journal: Chinese Medical Journal

DOI: 10.1097/CM9.0000000000001404

Media contact

Peifang Wei

[email protected]

Media Contact
Peifang Wei
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/CM9.0000000000001404

Tags: BiologyCell BiologyChemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesDiagnosticsEndocrinologyGeneticsMedicine/HealthResearch/DevelopmentTechnology/Engineering/Computer Science
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

HSV1 Glycoprotein D Blocks Alpha7 Nicotinic Receptors

June 24, 2025
blank

Deep Learning Predicts Walking Forces with Knee Alignment

June 24, 2025

Robotic Intubation and AI Airway Tech

June 24, 2025

Unlocking Parkinson’s Secrets Through Digital Language Analysis

June 23, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Green brake lights in the front could reduce accidents

    Study from TU Graz Reveals Front Brake Lights Could Drastically Diminish Road Accident Rates

    161 shares
    Share 64 Tweet 40
  • Pancreatic Cancer Vaccines Eradicate Disease in Preclinical Studies

    72 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18
  • Enhancing Broiler Growth: Mannanase Boosts Performance with Reduced Soy and Energy

    66 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 17
  • How Scientists Unraveled the Mystery Behind the Gigantic Size of Extinct Ground Sloths—and What Led to Their Demise

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Pulmonary T2* MRI: New Fetal Lung Assessment Tool?

Digital Platform Boosts CPEC Disaster Resilience, Innovation

Dispersion-Engineered Metasurfaces: Debye Relaxation Unveiled

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.