Cardiac Arrest in Obstetric Patients Receiving Anesthetic Care: Results From the 7th National Audit Project of the Royal College of Anaesthetists

( Anaesthesia . 2024, 79, 514–523. doi:10.1111/anae.16204) Cardiac arrest (CA) among pregnant women is not common, occurring between 2.78 per 100,000 patients and 1 in 12,000 hospitalizations. Effective management of such situations necessitates modifications to customary resuscitation procedures, like manual left uterine displacement and prompt cesarean delivery (CD), to improve likelihood of maternal survival. In the UK, anesthetic complications such as local anesthetic toxicity and high neuraxial blocks, are the primary reasons for obstetric CA occurring before delivery. On the other hand, in the United States, typical reasons are bleeding, cardiac complications, amniotic fluid embolism, and septicemia.