Korean J Anesthesiol.  2004 Dec;47(6):779-783. 10.4097/kjae.2004.47.6.779.

The Clinical Effects of a Small-dose of Intrathecal Bupivacaine and Alfentanil for Short-duration Surgery: A Randomized Double-blinded Study

• Lee C
• Kang YR
• Kim TY

• KMID: 2032591
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2004.47.6.779

Abstract

BACKGROUND: High doses of intrathecal bupivacaine may produce a high level of sensory and motor block, and arterial hypotension and, Intrathecal opioids added to low-dose local anesthetics produced a synergistic effect Thus it may be possible to augment spinal anesthesia without delaying recovery. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and adverse effects of adding alfentanil to intrathecal small-dose bupivacaine for short-duration surgery.
METHODS
In this randomized double-blinded, prospective study, 60 patients scheduled for short-duration surgery were randomly assigned to Group B10 (0.5% bupivacaine 10 mg), Group B5AE (0.5% bupivacaine 5 mg + alfentanil 0.25 mg + 0.1% epinephrine 0.2 ml + normal saline 0.3 ml), or Group B5A (0.5% bupivacaine 5 mg + alfentanil 0.25 mg + normal saline 0.5 ml). The final volume of intrathecal injectate was adjusted to 2.0 ml with normal saline. Neural block was assessed by pinprick and a modified Bromage scale.
RESULTS
No significant difference was found between three groups at the median peak sensory level, but administered fluid, and the duration of sensory and motor blockade in Group B5A was significantly shorter than in Group B10.
CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that alfentanil 0.25 mg with 0.5% bupivacaine 5 mg produced a shorter in neural blockade, than the other groups and that it did not cause hemodynamic instability and produced effective spinal anesthesia for short-duration surgery.

Keyword

alfentanil; bupivacaine; spinal anesthesia

MeSH Terms

Alfentanil*
Analgesics, Opioid
Anesthesia, Spinal
Anesthetics, Local
Bupivacaine*
Epinephrine
Hemodynamics
Humans
Hypotension
Prospective Studies
Alfentanil
Analgesics, Opioid
Anesthetics, Local
Bupivacaine
Epinephrine