Clinical physiology (Oxford, England)
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Comparative Study
Cardiovascular response to spinal anaesthesia in elderly men: effects of head-up tilt and dihydroergotamine administration.
In nine elderly (mean age 60, rang 42-74 years) cardiovascular pressures and cardiac output have been measured by catheterization of the pulmonary and brachial artery during spinal anaesthesia without and with dihydroergotamine (DHE) and during an added slight head-up (10-15 degrees). Spinal anaesthesia lowered arterial pressure and also stroke volume. After DHE arterial pressures as well as stroke volume were normalized. ⋯ It is concluded that in elderly men, unlike the young men previously studied, spinal anaesthesia decreases arterial blood pressures by a combination of reduced peripheral resistance and decreased stroke volume. The decreases in stroke volume and cardiac output were most pronounced in those patients with a reduced blood volume. DHE also prevents arterial pressure fall with head-up tilt during spinal anaesthesia.