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Effect of Aspiration of Cerebro‐Spinal Fluid on Spinal Anaesthesia with Isobaric 0.5% Bupivacaine
Author(s) -
Pitkänen M.,
Tuominen M.,
Asantila R.,
Rosenberg P. H.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
acta anaesthesiologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1399-6576
pISSN - 0001-5172
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-6576.1985.tb02260.x
Subject(s) - medicine , bupivacaine , isobaric process , spinal anesthesia , anesthesia , intrathecal , physics , thermodynamics
The effect of changing the volume of cerebro‐spinal fluid (CSF) before spinal anaesthesia with 3 ml of isobaric 0.5% bupivacaine was investigated in 60 elderly (58–77 years) orthopaedic or urological patients. The patients were randomly allocated to three groups. They received the spinal anaesthetic either with or without the aspiration of 3 ml of CSF. In the third group a mixture of 3 ml of aspirated CSF and 3 ml of 0.5% isobaric bupivacaine was given. Pin‐prick analgesia and motor block were tested during the induction and recovery. The only statistically significant difference between the groups was in the time‐lag from administration to maximum spread of pin‐prick analgesia, which was shortest in the group without aspiration (mean 19.5 min, other groups 29–30 min). The mean maximum level of analgesia was T6‐T7 in each group. The anaesthesia was satisfactory in most cases. One death occurred because of a massive pulmonary embolism. The clinical significance of aspirating CSF before attempting spinal anaesthesia with 3 ml of 0.5% isobaric bupivacaine was found to be small.