title: Anaesthesia practice and reproductive outcomes: Facts unveiled.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Anaesthetic practice is associated with a risk of chronic exposure to anaesthetic agents. With the advent of newer inhalational agents and changing anaesthetic practices, the risks for anaesthesiologists with regard to adverse reproductive outcomes is unknown. Hence, a nationwide online survey was conducted to study the anaesthetic practices prevalent in India and their association, if any, with poor reproductive outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  The online survey involved 9974 anaesthesiologists. A questionnaire soliciting information regarding anaesthetic practice techniques, reproductive outcomes and perinatal outcomes was designed. All the anaesthesiologists in the ISA National database were mailed a link to the above questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Female anaesthesiologists and spouses of male anaesthesiologists had a higher incidence of first trimester spontaneous abortions than the general population. Female anaesthesiologists when compared with spouses of male anaesthesiologists faced more difficulty with conception (P = 0.015). Female anaesthesiologists who worked in the operating room (OR) in their first trimester of gestation had a higher incidence of spontaneous abortions than those who did not work in the OR (P = 0.05). Longer hours of general anaesthesia conducted in the first trimester of pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of birth defects in their progeny (P = 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Spontaneous abortions and birth defects were higher in female anaesthesiologists who worked in the OR in the first trimester of gestation. Both female anaesthesiologists and spouses of male anaesthesiologists had a greater risk for a first trimester miscarriage than the general population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Puducherry, India.
authors.forename: Amrutha Bindu
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Nagella
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Puducherry, India.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ravishankar
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Puducherry, India.
authors.forename: V R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Hemanth Kumar
keywords: Anaesthesia; birth defects; infertility; practices; reproductive outcomes; spontaneous abortions