Cardiovascular and biochemical evidence of stress during major surgery associated with different techniques of anaesthesia

Abstract

The relative merits of a potent tiarcotic and a spinal analgesic to affect the stress response to a standard operation have been assessed. Forty-five fit patients scheduled for abdominal hysterectomy were allocated at random to three groups, referred to as standard (i.v. anaesthesia alone), spinal (spinal plus i.v. anaesthesia) and fentanyl (fentanyl plus i.v. anaesthesia) groups. In the doses used, fentanyl produced the most effective attentuation of the cardiovascular, hormonal and metabolic responses to stress, but had the disadvantage of prolonged respiratory depression. Spinal anaesthesia gave only a modified blockade of the response to stress and did not obtund the reponse to intubation. © 1983 The Macmillan Press Ltd.