Evaluation of latent period of temperature sensitivity in traditional and unilateral spinal anesthesia

Abstract

Objective: evaluation of the differences in the level of temperature, sensory and motor blockade during the various techniques of spinal anesthesia. Materials and Methods. Prospectively the randomized study included 70 patients. In the group with conventional spinal anesthesia (n=35) 15mg of bupivacaine injected quickly. In the group with unilateral spinal anesthesia (n=35) 7.5mg of bupivacaine administered slowly, at a rate of 1 ml per minute. We studied the level of temperature and time, sensory and motor blockade. The data are statistically processed. Results. Reduced thermal sensitivity recorded in an average of 48 seconds as a unilateral spinal anesthesia group and the control group. Subarachnoid administration of 7.5 mg of hyperbaric bupivacaine resulted in the development of a complete motor blockade underlying lower extremity in only 16 patients (45.7%). Conclusion. Using lower dosages of bupivacaine for unilateral spinal anesthesia lowers the threshold concentration of the local anesthetic in the subarachnoid space, resulting in slower motor neuron blockade and it is not total in more than 50% of cases.

Keywords

• bupivacaine
• latent period
• spinal anesthesia