The aspiration of stomach contents into the lungs during obstetric anesthesia.

J N MOST texts on pulmonary complications, aspiration of stomach contents 1 into the lungs during general anesthesia is considered under the heading of postanesthetic pneumonia. Aspiration of infected material is said to produce atelectasis, pne-umonia, and lung abscess .. A survey of New York Lying-In Hospital records of patients that aspirated gastric contents during obstetric anesthesia revealed the following different diagnoses: suffocation, massive atelectasis, partial atelectasis, disc atelectasis, pulmonary infarct, aspiration pneumonia, bronchopneumonia, lobar pneumonia, virus pneumonia, atypical pneumonia, tuberculous pneumonia, pulmonary tuberculosis, fungus infection, pulmonary metastasis, drowned lung, cardiac failure, pulmonary edema, and paroxysmal tachycardia. Obviously, a better understanding of this condition is wanting.