The correlation between the STOP-Bang score and oxygen saturation during spinal anesthesia with dexmedetomidine sedation

Abstract

Background: The STOP-Bang questionnaire is a simple screening tool with high sensitivity for the detection of severe obstructive sleep apnea. Predicting airway obstruction would al-low the safe management of sedative patients to prevent intraoperative hypoxia. This study was designed to check the correlation between the STOP-Bang score and oxygen saturation (SpO2) during sedation and confirm the availability of the STOP-Bang questionnaire as a preoperative exam for predicting the incidence of hypoxia in sedative patient management. Methods: This study included 56 patients who received spinal anesthesia. The pre-anesthe-sia evaluation was conducted using the STOP-Bang questionnaire. The patients were under spinal anesthesia with an average block level of T10. Dexmedetomidine was infused with a loading dose of 1 μg/kg over 10 min and a maintenance dose of 0.5 μg/kg/h until the end of the procedure. The SpO2 of the patients was recorded every 5 min. Results: The STOP-Bang score was negatively correlated with the lowest SpO2 (coefficient = –0.774, 95% confidence interval [CI]: –0.855 to –0.649, standard error [SE] = 0.054, P < 0.001). The item of “observed apnea” was the most correlated one with hypoxic events (odds ratio = 6.00, 95% CI: 1.086 to 33.145). Conclusions: The STOP-Bang score was significantly correlated with the lowest SpO2 during spinal anesthesia, which enabled the prediction of meaningful hypoxia before it occurred in the sedated patients.