Premium
Bradycardia during hypotension following release of a tourniquet in orthopaedic surgery
Author(s) -
Jacobsen J.,
Rørsgaard S.,
Secher N. H.
Publication year - 1986
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.1399-6576.1986.tb02466.x
Subject(s) - medicine , tourniquet , bradycardia , anesthesia , heart rate , blood pressure , thigh , surgery
Heart rate (HR) and mean arterial blood pressure (MBP) were followed in 39 consecutive patients during orthopaedic surgery with the leg exsanguinated by an inflatable tourniquet around the thigh. The rirculation was stable in all patients until release of the tourniquet. Following release of the tourniquet MBP derrcased from 94 ± 5 (s.e. mean) to 45 ± 12 mmHg (12.5 ± 0.7 to 6.0 ± 1.6 kPa) (P<0.005) in 10 patients, while it remained stable in the others. At the same time the hypotensive group showed a decrease in HR from 83 ± 6 to 67 ± 3 beats min‐ l ( P <0.005) while no significant change in HR was seen in the normotensive group. The hypotensive group was older (57 ± 8 versus 50 ± 4 years ( P <0.05)), had a larger blood loss during surgery (2.9 ± 1.2 versus 0.7 ± 0.3 ml kg ‐1 ( P < 0.005)), and the duration of the operation was longer in this group (120 ± 14 versus 60 ± 27 min ( P <0.001)). It is suggested that the characteristic deviation of HK in conjunction with hypotension following release of a tourniquet is bradycardia.