An Update on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Neuraxial Anesthesia for Cesarean Delivery

Background Racial and ethnic differences in the use of neuraxial anesthesia compared with general anesthesia are less studied, particularly in obstetrical anesthesia. Here, we aimed to provide an update on the association between race and ethnicity, and the use of neuraxial anesthesia for cesarean delivery in the United States (US). Methods We used the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) Participant Use Data File 2019. We extracted cases that had a primary surgery defined with Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code for cesarean delivery (59510, 59514, and 59515) and cesarean after attempted vaginal delivery in parturients with a prior history of cesarean (59618, 59620, and 59622). Multivariable logistic regression was used to report the association of race and ethnicity with primary anesthetic technique. Results There were 12,876 parturients included in the study. Compared with White parturients, Black (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.57-0.88, p = 0.001) and American Indian or Alaska Native (aOR = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.12-0.40, p < 0.001) parturients had lower odds of receiving neuraxial compared with general anesthesia. There were no significant differences in the odds of neuraxial anesthesia between non-Hispanic and Hispanic cohorts. Conclusions While we do observe racial differences in anesthetic technique, Hispanic patients did not have significantly lower odds of neuraxial anesthesia. This study highlights the importance of an update to prior studies, as the current study suggests a lack of disparity between non-Hispanic and Hispanic parturients. While the results here are encouraging, a multidisciplinary approach is necessary to further address racial disparities.