Spinal Anaesthesia for Emergency Caesarean Section in a Morbid Obese Woman with Severe Preeclampsia

Copyright © 2012 Ebirim N. Longinus et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. Morbid obesity in a pregnancy is a great challenge to medical practice especially when the patient requires caesarean section. Case Summary. A 38-year-old unbooked gravida 3 Para 2+0 weight 195 kg, height 1.7m with a blood pressure of 210/160mmhg had spinal anaesthesia for emergency caesarean section which was technically difficult for severe preeclampsia at 32-week gestation. She had poor wound healing and spent 18 days postoperatively on hospital admission. Conclusion. Morbid obesity is a challenge to both obstetric and anaesthetic practice. Antenatal care is necessary in reducing both maternal morbidity and mortality. 1