title: Spinal monitoring during vertebral column surgery under continuous alfentanil infusion.
abstract: An anaesthetic technique for surgical procedures on the vertebral column is described consisting of a continuous infusion of a short acting opioid, alfentanil, and a muscle relaxant, vecuronium, in combination with positive pressure ventilation using a nitrous oxide/oxygen mixture. It is shown that the two standard forms of spinal monitoring, wake-up testing and somatosensory cortical evoked potentials, can be employed effectively using this anaesthetic technique. Wake-up testing was performed in 23 patients. Average wake-up time was 10 min (SD 3.7 min). Evoked responses suitable for spinal monitoring could be obtained in 60 of 61 patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anaesthesiology, Nijmegen Academic Hospital, St Radboudziekenhuis, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van Beem
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koopman-van Gemert
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kruls
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Notermans
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015760:Alfentanil; D000771:Anesthesia, Intravenous; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods*; D013123:Spinal Fusion; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015760:Alfentanil