[Anesthesia for emergency cesarean section after uterine rupture associated with recent fracture of the cervical spine].

General anaesthesia with intubation is preferable for emergency Caesarean section, whilst epidural anaesthesia should be reserved for elective Caesarean section. The case of a patient who required emergency Caesarean section following uterine rupture is discussed. The management was complicated by a cervical spine injury which had occurred four months previously. Because an epidural catheter had already been inserted at an early stage of labour, this was the anaesthetic technique chosen for the emergency section. This avoided tracheal intubation and the possibility of worsening the cervical fracture. The end result was satisfactory, both for the mother and the child.