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CARDIOVASCULAR ANESTHESIA

Thoracic, but Not Lumbar, Epidural Anesthesia Improves Cardiopulmonary Function in Ovine Pulmonary Embolism

Klinik und Poliklinik für Anästhesiologie und Operative Intensivmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Münster, Münster, Germany

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Uli Rüdiger Jahn, MD, Klinik und Poliklinik für Anästhesiologie und Operative Intensivmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Strasse 33, 48129 Münster, Germany. Address e-mail to jahn{at}anit.uni-muenster.de

We hypothesized that sympathetic stimulation is the main mechanism contributing to hemodynamic failure in pulmonary embolism. We investigated the effects of epidural anesthesia-induced sympathetic blockade, restricted to thoracic and lumbar levels, during pulmonary embolism. Two experiments were performed in chronically instrumented ewes. In the first experiment, six sheep received 6 mL bupivacaine 0.175% (Thoracic Epidural Anesthesia [TEA] group), and six sheep received 6 mL saline 0.9% (TEA-Control group), respectively, via an epidural catheter (T3 level). In the second experiment, six sheep received 2.8 mL bupivacaine 0.375% (Lumbar Epidural Anesthesia [LEA] group), and six sheep received 2.8 mL saline 0.9% (LEA-Control group) epidurally (L4 level). Embolization was performed by IV injection of au- tologous blood clots (Experiment 1, 0.75 mL/kg; Experiment 2, 0.625 mL/kg). TEA was associated with significantly slower heart rates, decreased mean pulmonary artery pressures and central venous pressures, and significantly higher stroke volume index and oxygenation in comparison with the TEA-Control group. By contrast, LEA was associated with significantly faster heart rates and increased central venous pressures and with a significantly lower stroke volume index in comparison with the LEA-Control group. TEA significantly reduced, and LEA significantly increased, hemodynamic deterioration, suggesting beneficial effects of TEA on cardiopulmonary function during pulmonary thromboembolism.

IMPLICATIONS: Thoracic (but not lumbar) epidural anesthesia was associated with beneficial cardiopulmonary effects during experimental pulmonary thromboembolism in sheep.

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Anesthesia & Analgesia® is published for the International Anesthesia Research Society® by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins with the assistance of Stanford University Libraries' HighWire Press®. Copyright 2006 by the International Anesthesia Research Society. Online ISSN: 1526-7598   Print ISSN: 0003-2999