Final answer:
General anesthesia is given for Cesarean birth during emergencies, when medical conditions prevent the use of regional anesthesia, or when there are contraindications to regional anesthesia. It is administered via inhalational or injectable anesthetics and ensures immobility, analgesia, unconsciousness, and amnesia during surgery.
Step-by-step explanation:
General anesthesia may be administered during a Cesarean birth in certain circumstances. Although most Cesarean sections are performed using regional anesthesia, there are three key instances where general anesthesia may be necessary:
- When there is an emergency and there is no time for regional anesthesia to take effect.
- If the mother has certain medical conditions that preclude the use of spinal or epidural anesthesia.
- In cases where a patient has a contraindication to regional anesthesia, such as a bleeding disorder or an infection at the injection site.
Before induction of anesthesia, a team that includes the nurse and an anesthesia professional reviews key concerns for the patient's recovery and care. General anesthetics can be administered as inhalational anesthetics through gases or vapors or as injectable anesthetics. Injectable anesthetics such as propofol and ketamine are faster and more reliable and may be used when induction of unconsciousness needs to be rapid, as in emergency Cesarean sections. Overall, general anesthesia elicits key reversible effects including immobility, analgesia, amnesia, unconsciousness, and reduced autonomic responsiveness to noxious stimuli, which are essential during major surgeries like Cesarean birth.