Magnitude and Pattern of Caesarean Sections in a Teaching Hospital, Northwest Nigeria: A 5 Year Analysis

Background: The pattern of Caesarean section rate is on the rise with emergency surpassing elective caesarean deliveries. This could not be unconnected to the safety of anaesthesia in modern obstetrics. Method: Data on Caesarean deliveries conducted from January, 2005 to December, 2009 was analyzed using Epi Info Statistical Software. Results: The Caesarean section rate was 18.75%. The mean age was 28.02±5.86 years. Emergency Caesarean section was the majority (59.4%) while the remaining (40.6%) were elective. General anaesthesia was used for the majority (66.68 %) of the cases, while 33.32% had subarachnoid block. Univariate analysis, shows statistically significant association between the type of surgery and anaesthetic technique used (χ 2 =22.741, df = 1, p = 0.000). A statistically significant association was also established between age group of the patients and the anaesthetic technique (χ 2 =10.878, df = 2, p = 0.004). However, there was no statistically significant association between age group of the patients and the type of Caesarean section (χ 2 =0.224, df = 2, p = 0.894). Conclusion: The high rate of emergency caesarean intervention has been a persistent denominator in several studies. The root cause of these anomalies such as dearth of expertise at secondary facilities should be addressed. With effective pregnancy supervision, obstetric cases that would end with emergency intervention can be handled electively.