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Nitrous oxide in early human pregnancy
Author(s) -
CRAWFORD J. S.,
LEWIS M.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2044.1986.tb12912.x
Subject(s) - medicine , nitrous oxide , abortion , interim , obstetrics , fetus , anesthesia , pregnancy , cervical cerclage , general anaesthesia , gestational age , history , archaeology , biology , genetics
Summary An analysis of the outcome of 375 cases (383 fetuses) of cervical cerclage and 58 other operations (59 fetuses) conducted under general anaesthesia, which included the administration of nitrous oxide, failed to reveal a single instance of which nitrous oxide could have been clearly indicted as a cause of fetal abnormality The incidence of inevitable abortion and of low birth weight babies in the series of cervical cerclage conducted under general anaesthesia was identical to that in a series conducted under regional analgesia (115 fetuses). This represents the first of a two‐part test of the proposition that nitrous oxide should not be administered to women in the first or second trimester. Our interim conclusion is that the proposition is unacceptable.