Anesthetic management of the obese parturient is challenging. Both pregnancy and obesity are risk factors for a difficult airway and anesthesia-related maternal mortality. There is increased risk of difficult intubation associated with an increased difficultly in mask ventilation and increased risk of accelerated desaturation during apnea.~The use of apneic oxygenation for the optimization of peri-intubation conditions is a promising means of preventing hypoxemia.~Despite the recommendation of the use of nasal prongs to insufflate oxygen at flows of 5 L/min to 15 L/min during the apneic period randomized controlled trial is still not available in the morbidly obese parturient.
The aim of this study is to compare the effect of apneic preoxygenation to conventional preoxygenation on the oxygen desaturation in morbid obese parturient performing elective caesarean section under general anesthesia.