Effects of High Flow Humidified Oxygen on Umbilical Artery Acid-base Balance in Cesarean Section Under Spinal Anesthesia

Summary

Spinal anesthesia is the most commonly used anesthetic technique for cesarean section in developed countries, but vasodilation and a decrease in systemic vascular resistance caused by sympathetic blockade result in hypotension in 7-74% of parturients. The fetus receives oxygen from the mother via uteroplacental blood flow, and because uteroplacental circulation during pregnancy has minimal autoregulation, uterine blood flow changes in proportion to maternal blood pressure. Therefore, a reduction in uterine blood flow due to maternal hypotension can lead to fetal hypoxia or acidosis and is associated with low Apgar scores after birth.

Oxygen administration may offer potential benefits, such as improving maternal cerebral perfusion and preventing fetal ischemic injury, and thus low-flow oxygen via a conventional nasal cannula is commonly used. However, there are few studies evaluating the effects of high-flow oxygen administration on fetal well-being during cesarean section under spinal anesthesia. Low-flow oxygen delivery through a conventional nasal cannula, which is commonly used during cesarean section under spinal anesthesia, results in a fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO₂) of less than 40% due to dilution with ambient air. In contrast, OptiFlow THRIVE (Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, Panmure, Auckland, New Zealand) is a device capable of delivering high-flow oxygen through a nasal interface, allowing administration of 100% oxygen to the mother and potentially providing greater protection against fetal ischemic injury. Delivering non-humidified oxygen at flow rates above 10 L/min causes significant discomfort in awake patients, but OptiFlow THRIVE passes the gas through a heated humidification chamber immediately before delivery, enabling the administration of warmed and humidified oxygen even at high flow rates. Therefore, this study aims to compare high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy initiated upon operating room admission with conventional low-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy during cesarean section under spinal anesthesia, assessing their effects on maternal hemodynamic parameters and, ultimately, on fetal acid-base status.

Conditions

• Pregnancy
• Cesarean Section
• Spinal Anesthesia

Interventions

DEVICE

high-flow nasal oxygen

All patients will, upon admission to the operating room, be placed in the supine position and connected to standard monitoring. Once patient monitoring has been completed, patients in the high-flow nasal cannula oxygen group will receive 100% oxygen at 50 L/min via OptiFlow THRIVE. Thereafter, patients will be placed in the left lateral decubitus position, and spinal anesthesia will be performed at the lower lumbar level.

DEVICE

conventional nasal cannula oxygen

All patients will, upon admission to the operating room, be placed in the supine position and connected to standard monitoring. Once patient monitoring has been completed, patients in the conventional nasal cannula oxygen group will receive oxygen at 2 L/min via a nasal cannula. Thereafter, patients will be placed in the left lateral decubitus position, and spinal anesthesia will be performed at the lower lumbar level.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Yonsei University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

20 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-04-07

Primary Completion

2027-03-31

Completion

2027-03-31