[Lung function in pregnant patients and its significance for anesthetic ventilation in cesarean section].

Spirometry was conducted preoperatively in a group of 10 women subjected to cesarean section. The measured minute ventilation served as basis for ventilation under anaesthesia. The acid-base and blood gas parameters of the newborns from this group of patients were compared to the corresponding data obtained from babies of 11 women who underwent caesarean section under epidural analgesia. It was found that part of the data were significantly better under general anaesthesia with controlled respiration than under epidural analgesia with spontaneous respiration. The maternal carbon dioxide level assumes the significance of a guiding value for the choice of the ventilation parameters. If the spirometric initial data and the actual pCO2 value under anaesthesia are not known, it is recommended to employ a minute ventilation of 11.5 l/min.