Pharmacoeconomic Evaluation Of General Anaesthesia And Subarachnoid Block For Elective Caesarean Section For Elective Caesarean Section

Abstract

To encourage a logical and cost effective selection of anaesthetic technique for elective caesarean section, retrospective analysis of the types of anaesthesia for elective surgical delivery was conducted. The patients who had caesarean section over a year period were identified. The perioperative record for each patient was reviewed to determine quantity of anaesthetic drugs, fluid therapy and other adjuvant medications. Resource consumption was then established for each patient. During the one year period, 51 patients had elective caesarean section. Thirty-five (68.6%) of these had general anaethesia (GA) while 16(31.4%) had subarachnoid block (SAB). The mean cost for GA was N2, 450:25 as against N1, 864:00 for SAB (p<0.05). The mean cost of anaesthetic drugs for GA was N1, 509:28 as against N833:00 for SAB (p<0.05). The cost of anaesthetic drugs was a major determinant of the overall cost of general anaesthesia (r = 0.8746, p< 0.01). Five patients (14.3%) in the GA group had homologous blood transfusion (mean cost = N4, 250:00) and none in the SAB group. SAB for elective caesarean section appears to be a more effective and logical anaesthetic technique in an economic climate with financial constraints and poor resource allocation to health.

Keywords: Caesarean section, General, Subarachnoid (spinal) Anaesthesia, Costs.

Annals of Biomedical Science Vol. 2 (1) 2003: pp. 36-41