[Studies on neurobehavioral response (Scanlon test) in newborns after epidural anesthesia with various anesthetic agents for cesarean section].

In order to examine the influence of larger doses of anesthetic drugs on newborns, 146 infants delivered by cesarean section with epidural anesthesia employing various anesthetic agents were assessed by Apgar score, blood gas analysis, drug concentration as well as Scanlon's examination. The following results were obtained: 1. The fetal/maternal concentration ratio for bupivacaine was lowest compared with those of lidocaine and mepivacaine. 2. There was no significant difference among the epidural anesthesia with four kinds of anesthetic agents and spinal anesthesia groups in pH, Pco2, Po2 values or Apgar scores obtained from blood from the maternal artery or the umbilical vein. 3. The groups whose mothers had received epidural block with either lidocaine or mepivacaine for cesarean section showed significantly lower scores in Scanlon test compared with the groups with bupivacaine or chloroprocaine and spinal anesthesia group. From these findings, it may be concluded that bupivacaine or chloroprocaine does offer some advantages over (three local anesthetic agents) lidocaine, mepivacaine or tetracaine to the obstetric patients who need cesarean section for delivery.