Study results, published in the journal Current Medical Research and Opinion, show that the use of neuraxial anesthesia is linked with a lower risk of asthma in pediatric populations.

In this retrospective cohort analysis, the data of 196 mother/child pairs (boys, 53.06%; Blacks, 50.51%) from the Newborn Epigenetics Study (NEST) were examined. Data on the type of maternal anesthesia used, duration of exposure to the anesthesia, and medications that were administered to the women in the peripartum period were extracted, and prenatal risk factors were determined based on questionnaires. In addition, asthma diagnoses in children from these pairs were determined using questionnaires.

Of the mothers in this cohort, 14.29% had asthma, 28.57% were smokers, 31.63% were obese prior to pregnancy, and 37.24% had a cesarean section. These 4 factors were reported more often by women who had children with asthma

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