key: cord-0696664-j7whzij8
authors: Desciak, M.; Deis, A.; McHugh, S.M.
title: More information needed for patients with COVID-19 receiving spinal anaesthesia
date: 2020-06-03
journal: Br J Anaesth
DOI: 10.1016/j.bja.2020.05.022
sha: 75bdd733ff0a8ec1746d66472c3b0e853416adfa
doc_id: 696664
cord_uid: j7whzij8

nan

a clinical diagnosis versus those with positive RT-PCR testing would be informative. The criteria used to diagnose patients in the study contrasts with the criteria used for anaesthetists, who were required to have a positive RT-PCR test. Only 5 of the 44 anaesthetists were positive in this manner, but a significant number of them had symptoms consistent with infection as described in Table 4 . It would be instructive to know how many of the anaesthetists would have been positive using the NHCC clinical criteria.

Secondly, the primary objective of the study was to describe the safety of neuraxial anaesthesia in COVID-19 patients. While the authors report some important clinical outcomes, other data specific for COVID-19 including baseline oxygen saturations, indications for supplemental oxygen, and blood pressure trends greater than 5 minutes after surgery were not reported. Similarly, more data on the clinical characteristics of the anaesthetists would be beneficial. Of the five who contracted COVID-19, only one had symptoms but two required hospitalization for supplementary oxygen. Patients with COVID-19 may have significant hypoxaemia without dyspnoea, but additional data regarding hospitalization in this asymptomatic patient are not provided. 4 A number of other discrepancies are present in the paper. The description of Table 4 This study is a valuable contribution to the field of anaesthesia, and obstetric anaesthesia in particular, at a time when limited information exists on COVID-19 \ in parturients. However, we feel that additional clarification on several points in the paper would further strengthen its utility.

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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