Evaluation of the Prevalence of Shoulder Pain after Cesarean with General Anesthesia

Shoulder pain is one of the patient complaints after cesarean section. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of shoulder pain and its association with elective cesarean section in patients with general anesthesia. An observational cross-sectional study was conducted with statistical society of 930 patients in Emam Reza and Emam Zaman hospitals in Mashhad using random sampling of 332 participants. To assess the prevalence of shoulder pain in elective cesarean with general anesthesia, a questionnaire was designed that consisted of age, existence or non existence of pain, severity of pain (severe, moderate or mild) occurrence of pain in right or left shoulder, and location of intravenous catheter. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 14, by independent t-test, chi-square and fisher exact tests. The prevalence of shoulder pain in elective cesarean section was found to be 131 patients(39.45%). There was a positive correlation between pain range (without pain, mild, moderate, severe) and side of painful shoulder. The most prevalent rate of shoulder pain was in right shoulder with moderate severity (p<0.05). There was a positive correlation between the prevalence of shoulder pain after cesarean section and each gynecologist and the number of her cesarean section (p<0.05). The present study highlights the significance of shoulder pain in elective cesarean with general anesthesia that is more in right shoulder with moderate severity.