ABSTRACT : Caesarean sections are commonly performed under spinal anesthesia and hypotension is the common intraoperative event associated with surgery and anaesthesia.1 Hypotension following spinal anaesthesia is the result of rapid onset sympathatic blockade.2 Increased sympathetic drive before spinal anaesthesia is associated with intraoperative hypotension during caesarean section.3 The positional change in blood pressure can be taken as the assessment of degree of sympathetic activity and hence can predict intraoperative hypotension under spinal anaesthesia.

METHODS : After taking institutional ethical clearance, 70 ASA Grade I and II patients undergoing caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia were selected for this observational study. Patients were given spinal anaesthesia with 2.5 ml of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine in sitting position at L3-4 or L4-5 IVS. Blood pressure (systolic, diastolic and mean) and heart rate were recorded twice in supine and sitting positions immediately on assumption of position and then three minutes later. The average values were noted for evaluation. Episodes of intraoperative hypotension and bradycardia were recorded throughout the study interval, which lasted till skin closure. Blood pressure and heart changes were analyzed using repeated -measure analysis of variance (ANOVA).

RESULTS : The detailed results and applied significance will be discussed in detail

CONCLUSIONS : Reference
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