Cardiovascular effects of spinal subarachnoid anaesthesia

Subarachnoid haemorrhage following spinal anaesthesia in an obstetric patient.

We describe an obstetric patient who presented for removal of a retained placenta. After insertion of the spinal anaesthetic, she developed a severe headache, and a subarachnoid haemorrhage was diagnosed. We discuss the differential diagnosis of the headache, the occurrence of intracranial haemorrhages after dural puncture and the future management of this patient.

Hypotension during subarachnoid anaesthesia: haemodynamic effects of ephedrine.

We have compared the haemodynamic effects of ephedrine alone with ephedrine and colloid for the treatment of hypotension produced by subarachnoid anaesthesia in 30 patients aged 60-90 yr with fractures of the neck of femur. Group one received ephedrine as an initial bolus dose of 0.2 mg kg-1 followed by an infusion of 0.5 mg kg-1 h-1. Group two received ephedrine and colloid (polygeline, Haemac...

Spinal anaesthesia.

Spinal anaesthesia is normally performed by puncture of the dura and arachnoid mater in the lumbar region, and local anaesthetic is introduced directly into the eerebrospinal fluid (CSF) surrounding the nerve roots and spinal cord. The solution will spread longitudinally through the CSF and the drug will be taken up by the neuronal tissue. Whether an effective concentration results in a particu...

Spinal Anaesthesia in Spinal Surgery

A methodological study of spinal (subarachnoid) anaesthesia in the rat and the mouse.

Rat and mouse were utilized as models to study the spinal (subarachnoid) anesthetic effects of five commonly used local anaesthetic agents. Duration and frequency of motor and sensory blockade, and onset time were determined after injection of 5.0% lignocaine, 0.75% bupivacaine and 1.0% amethocaine to the same groups of rats with chronically implanted catheters in the lumbar subarachnoid space....