title: Spinal anaesthesia with 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine in elderly patients: effects of duration spent in the sitting position.
abstract: Sixty patients, aged 65-84 yr, undergoing minor urological surgery under spinal anaesthesia remained sitting for 2 (group 1, n = 15), 5 (group 2, n = 15), 10 (group 3, n = 15), or 20 (group 4, n = 15) min after completion of the subarachnoid administration of 3 ml of a 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine solution. They were then placed in the supine position. Analgesia levels were assessed bilaterally using pinprick. Motor block was scored using a 12-point scale. Systolic and diastolic arterial pressures and heart rate were also recorded. Twenty minutes after the injection the upper analgesia levels were lower (P<0.05) in group 4 (median T9.0) than in the groups 1-3 (medians T6.6-T8.5). The highest obtained levels (medians T5.7-T8.0) did not differ between the groups, but occurred later (P<0.05) in group 4 (median 35 min) than in groups 1-3 (medians 19-24 min). There were no significant differences in the maximum degree of motor block or haemodynamic changes between the four study groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Veering
authors.forename: T T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Immink-Speet
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Burm
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stienstra
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: van Kleef
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000775:Anesthesia, Spinal / Q000379:methods*; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D002045:Bupivacaine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011187:Posture; D016683:Supine Position; D013997:Time Factors; D014551:Urinary Tract / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D002045:Bupivacaine