JPSIM Journal of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine J Pak Soc Intern Med 2709-8729 2710-0804 Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine 10.70302/jpsim.v6i1.2508 jpsim.v6i1.2508 Original Research A Comparative Study on the Effects of Spinal Versus General Anesthesia on Apgar Score of the Neonates Among Patients Enduring Elective Caesarean Section Iqbal Umar umariqbal41411@import.invalid * Butt Imran Masood Saqib Muhammad Khan Muhammad Aslam Ali Mudassar Sheikh Fareeha Rashid Latif Medical College Lahore Punjab Institute of Neurosciences Lahore Children Hospital Lahore Allama Iqbal Medical College Lahore *Correspondence: Umar Iqbal (umariqbal41411@import.invalid) 10 03 2025 2025 6 1 38 41 10 04 2024 17 01 2025 22 02 2025 Copyright © 2025 The Author(s) 2025 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Objective

This study investigates the impact of anesthesia choices on maternal and neonatal outcomes during elective cesarean sections, comparing spinal anesthesia with general anesthesia.

 Methodology

Conducted over a year at the Department of Gynecology, Divisional Women's University of Dera Ismail Khan, the study involved 100 ASA-I patients scheduled for elective cesarean sections. Patients were divided into two groups: Group A (spinal anesthesia, n = 55) and Group B (general anesthesia, n = 45). Comprehensive monitoring and statistical analyses, utilizing SPSS version 22.0, were employed to assess maternal and neonatal outcomes, including Apgar scores at 1 and 5 minutes.

 Results

While both groups had similar mean ages, Group A had a slightly higher mean weight. Analysis revealed no statistically significant difference in Apgar scores at 1 minute, but at 5 minutes, Group B showed significantly higher Apgar scores (P = 0.001) and lower pH levels (P = 0.016). Group A exhibited a higher percentage of infants in satisfactory condition (96.7%) compared to Group B (86.7%) at 5 minutes.

 Conclusion

The study underscores the advantages of spinal anesthesia, presenting better Apgar scores at 1 minute and a higher percentage of infants in satisfactory condition at 5 minutes. These findings support the strategic use of spinal anesthesia in elective cesarean sections, emphasizing improved neonatal outcomes and maternal satisfaction. However, limitations such as sample size and exclusion of emergency cases warrant caution in generalizing the results.

 Keywords Anesthesia Cesarean section Spinal anesthesia General anesthesia Apgar score Maternal outcomes Neonatal outcomes Elective cesarean section. Ethics Statement

Ethics committee: Institutional Review Board / Ethics Committee (IRB/EC). Approval number: IRB/2020/027, dated 23-12-2020.

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