Background : There are controversies regarding the effects of spinal and general anesthesia on newborns’ apgar score, thus the present study was conducted on newborns delivered through a cesarean section to determine the effects of each type of anesthesia on apgar score.

Materials and methods : It was a clinical trial. Parturients candidated for elective cesarean section were randomly divided in two groups. 91 parturients undertook general anesthesia and 92 spinal anesthesia. General anesthesia was performed using nesdonal (5mg/kg) and succynil choline (1.5mg/kg) and the spinal anesthesia was achieved by 2 ml of lidocaine 5%. Maternal age, the time interval between the start of operation and uterine incision, uterine incision and newborn delivery, as well apgar score of the 1^st and 5^th minutes were recorded.

Results : Totally, 84 subjects in the general anesthesia and 90 in the spinal anesthesia group were studied. There was no significant difference between maternal age, the time interval between the start of operation and uterine incision, uterine incision and newborn delivery and the apgar score of the 5^th minute (NS). Apgar score of the first minute was 8.6±1.2 and 9.1±1.1 in the general and spinal anesthesia group, respectively (p<0.01).

Conclusion : Spinal anesthesia has slighter effect on first minute apgar score than the general anesthesia. Further studies regarding the effects of the epidural anesthesia are strongly suggested.