Incidence of general anaesthesia according to urgency of surgery: a multicentre prospective cohort study of 9989 Caesarean deliveries in Europe
Authors' conclusion
This study provides a contemporary description of anaesthetic practice for Caesarean delivery in 31 participating countries in Europe. The GA incidence was five-fold higher for emergency than elective cases. However, our study cannot determine reasons for the differences or identify causal relationships.
Study context
- Population
- All Caesarean deliveries in participating centres across European countries, September 1, 2023 to April 30, 2025Caesarean deliveries included, 361 centres across 31 European countries
- Participants
- 9,989 deliveries
- Exposure
- General anaesthesia (GA) use according to Caesarean delivery urgency
- Outcome
- Anaesthesia technique: general anaesthesia (GA) incidence
Methodological detailswithout exclusion criteria, 361 centres across 31 European countries
- Without exclusion criteria
- 361 centres across 31 European countries
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- Overall GA incidence (n=1474; 95% confidence interval 14.0-15.5)
- 14.8%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
GA as the initial anaesthesia technique
- Initial GA, all cases (n=759; 95% confidence interval 7.1-8.2)
- 7.6%
Indication for initial GA
- Among elective cases with initial GA: maternal request (n=110), most common
- 47.0%
- Among emergency cases with initial GA: emergent reasons (insufficient time for neuraxial anaesthesia) (n=167), leading indication
- 58.4%
Conversion to GA among initial neuraxial anaesthesia cases
- Conversion to GA, of 9228 initial neuraxial anaesthesia cases (n=715)
- 7.7%
- Conversion to GA among emergency cases with initial neuraxial anaesthesia (n=98)
- 23.1%
- Conversion to GA among elective cases with initial neuraxial anaesthesia (n=269)
- 6.1%
Original publication
Incidence of general anaesthesia according to urgency of surgery: a multicentre prospective cohort study of 9989 Caesarean deliveries in Europe. Br J Anaesth. Published 9 October 2026. doi:10.
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