Hi everyone,

Pain during caesarean is a very challenging and distressing event – for the patient, their partner, the anaesthetist and all the staff present in theatre.

This week we catch up with Matt Rucklidge, who recently gave a presentation on this topic at the obstetric anaesthesia meeting in London. We discuss why this has become a “hot topic” in the anaesthesia world in recent times, what is the true incidence, and many other aspects of this difficult topic.

The following is a first person narrative story from a patient with commentary from an uninvolved obstetric anaesthetist. Disappointingly from elselvier this article is unfortunately not open access but is well worth a read:

Stanford SE, Bogod DG. Failure of communication: a patient’s story. Int J Obstet Anesth. 2016 Dec;28:70-75. doi: 10.1016/j.ijoa.2016.08.001. Epub 2016 Aug 23. PMID: 27717633.

Podcast: The Retrievals Season 2 from NY Times

Prevention and management of intraoperative pain during Caesarean sectionOrbach-Zinger, S. et al.BJA Education, Volume 25, Issue 2, 50 – 56