Anesthetic Management of the Morbidly Obese Parturient

Abstract

Estimates suggest that 8-10% of parturients are morbidly obese. The care of these women is particularly challenging because coexisting disease(s) often complicate(s) obstetric and anesthetic management. Although there are no pregnancy-specific definitions of obesity, for purposes of this review we will consider pregnant women obese when the body mass index (BMI) is greater than 30 kg/m. Morbid obesity is typically described as a BMI greater than 40 kg/m.