Views of obstetric patients who refuse regional anesthesia in cesarean section.

BACKGROUND: Regional anesthesia for cesarean section has gained widespread popularity. However, there are still a good few of obstetric patients who refuse it. This study was to investigate the reasons for refusing regional anesthesia in order to gain some insights into the attitudes and concerns of patients. METHODS: Three hundred and twenty-four obstetric patients scheduled for Cesarean section were interviewed just before entering the operating room. They were asked to give one or two reasons for refusing regional anesthesia. RESULTS: Two hundreds of them refused regional anesthesia. The most frequent reasons were apprehension of witnessing the operation (auditory or visional) (45.42%) and fear of backache following regional anesthesia (14.58%). CONCLUSIONS: Anesthesiologists should be aware of patients' feeling or concern and could be capable and willing to discuss with them the relevant problems.