Use of regional anaesthesia in some Central and Eastern European countries

To date, there is limited information on obstetric anaesthesia and analgesia provided in the majority of Central and Eastern European countries. In contrast to other parts of Western and Northern Europe, they appear as geographically blank areas, as terra incognita. The novel position of the now united Germany, part of the European Union and sitting astride Eastern and Western Europe, has stimulated recent surveys of obstetric anaesthetic practice regionally1–2 and nationally.3–8 Similar surveys have been conducted in Switzerland9 and Hungary.10 Some additional, albeit limited, information on policies in obstetric anaesthesia is provided by a multi-national survey that also included a non-randomised selection of obstetric units from Germany, Switzerland and Austria among 17 other European countries.11