The threshold for thermoregulatory vasoconstriction during nitrous oxide/isoflurane anesthesia is lower in elderly than in young patients.
BACKGROUND
Thermoregulatory vasoconstriction minimizes further core hypothermia during anesthesia. Elderly patients become more hypothermic during surgery than do younger patients, and take longer to rewarm postoperatively. These data indicate that perianesthetic thermoregulatory responses may be especially impaired in the elderly. Accordingly, the authors tested the hypothesis that the thermoregulatory threshold for vasoconstriction during nitrous oxide/isoflurane anesthesia is reduced more in elderly than in young patients.


METHODS
The authors studied 12 young patients aged 30-50 yr and 12 elderly patients aged 60-80 yr. All were undergoing major orthopedic or open abdominal surgery. Anesthesia was induced with thiopental and fentanyl, and maintained only with nitrous oxide (70%) and isoflurane (0.6-0.8%). Core temperature was measured in the distal esophagus. Fingertip vasoconstriction was evaluated using forearm minus fingertip, skin-temperature gradients. A gradient of 4 degrees C identified significant vasoconstriction, and the core temperature triggering vasoconstriction identified the thermoregulatory threshold.


RESULTS
The vasoconstriction threshold was significantly less in the elderly patients (33.9 +/- 0.6 degree C) than in the younger ones (35.1 +/- 0.3 degrees C) (P < 0.01). The gender distribution, weight, and height of the elderly and young patients did not differ significantly. The end-tidal isoflurane concentration at the time of vasoconstriction did not differ significantly in the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
These data indicate that thermoregulatory responses in the elderly are initiated at temperatures approximately 1.2 degrees C less than that in younger patients. Thus, it is likely that elderly surgical patients become more hypothermic than do younger patients, at least in part, because they fail to trigger protective thermoregulatory responses.
Kurz
A
A
Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, University of Vienna, Austria.
Plattner
O
O
Sessler
D I
DI
Huemer
G
G
Redl
G
G
Lackner
F
F
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000769:Anesthesia, Inhalation; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007530:Isoflurane; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009609:Nitrous Oxide; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative; D014661:Vasoconstriction / Q000502:physiology*
D007530:Isoflurane; D009609:Nitrous Oxide