Objective: Our purpose was to determine the types of anesthesia and neurologic or hematologic complications found in pregnancy with HELLP syndrome providing analgesia for cesarean section.
Methods: This is a retrospective study. For the period of 1 July 1996, through 30 June 2000, we reviewed the charts of all patients with HELLP syndrome who had cesarean section.
Results: During the period of study 119 patients had HELLP syndrome. Eighty-five patients had cesarean delivery and 34 had vaginal delivery. Seventy-one patients had diagnosed HELLP syndrome previous to the anesthesia and 14 postcesarean delivery; the range platelet count was 19000-143000/microl. Of these 71, 58 had an epidural anesthesia, 9 had general anesthesia and 4 had spinal anesthesia. There were no neurologic complications or bleeding in the epidural space.
Conclusion: We found no documentation of any neurologic or hematologic complications of women with HELLP syndrome and neuraxial anesthesia.