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Regional anaesthesia and cough effectiveness
Author(s) -
HARROPGRIFFITHS A. W.,
RAVALIA A.,
BROWNE D. A.,
ROBINSON P. N.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2044.1991.tb09304.x
Subject(s) - medicine , anesthesia , vital capacity , general anaesthesia , caesarean section , spinal anesthesia , regional anaesthesia , respiratory rate , heart rate , pregnancy , blood pressure , lung , lung function , biology , diffusing capacity , genetics
Summary We report the results of a study of the effects of spinal and epidural anaesthesia for Caesarean section on commonly used indicators of a patient's ability to cough effectively. Both spinal and epidural anaesthesia, after the achievement of a block adequate for surgery, were associated with statistically significant decreases (p < 0.05) in all the respiratory variables recorded: forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second, peak expiratory flow rate and maximum expiratory pressure. We conclude that although the observed changes are unlikely to impair the normal patient's ability to cough effectively in these circumstances, there may be clinically significant impairment in the presence of an inadvertently high block or in a patient with pre‐existing pulmonary disease.