Perioperative Analgesia in Caesarean Section: What’s New?

Abstract

Caesarean section is associated with moderate to severe postoperative pain during the first 24 hours after surgery. Inadequate pain management can influence recovery, maternal psychological well-being and breastfeeding. In the search of alternatives to minimize the use of systemic opioids, new recommendations have been made to implement protocols to improve recovery after caesarean section, with multimodal analgesia, new suggestions for neuraxial techniques, regional analgesia with ultrasound-guided fascial plane blocks and non-pharmacological approaches. Some of the interventions, such as epidural or spinal blocks, although effective, carry a significant risk of complications (for example post-puncture headache). In their place, newer alternatives such as interventions guided by ultrasound are safe and effective for relieving pain in this common clinical context. The goal of this chapter is to provide clinicians with up-to-date evidence for optimal pain management after elective caesarean section.