• Anesthesia and analgesia · Aug 2020

    Randomized Controlled Trial

    A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blinded Study of the Effect of Intravenous Ondansetron on the Effective Dose in 50% of Subjects of Prophylactic Phenylephrine Infusions for Preventing Spinal Anesthesia-Induced Hypotension During Cesarean Delivery.

    Pre-spinal-anaesthesia administration of IV ondansetron 4 mg reduces the ED50 of prophylactic phenylephrine infusion by 26% among patients undergoing elective Caesarean section.

    pearl
    • Fei Xiao, Changna Wei, Xiangyang Chang, Yinfa Zhang, Lili Xue, Huaxiang Shen, Ngan Kee Warwick D WD Department of Anesthesiology, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar., and Xinzhong Chen.
    • From the Department of Anesthesia, Jiaxing University Affiliated Women and Children Hospital, Jiaxing City, China.
    • Anesth. Analg. 2020 Aug 1; 131 (2): 564-569.

    BackgroundOndansetron has been shown to reduce the incidence of hypotension and vasopressor requirement during spinal anesthesia for obstetric and nonobstetric surgery. However, the magnitude of this effect has not been fully quantified. In this parallel-group, randomized, double-blinded study, we determined the effective dose in 50% of subjects (ED50) of a prophylactic phenylephrine infusion for preventing hypotension in patients who received a single dose of intravenous ondansetron 4 mg or saline control before combined spinal-epidural anesthesia for elective cesarean delivery. ED50 values obtained were compared to estimate the effect of ondansetron versus placebo on vasopressor requirement.MethodsSixty parturients were randomly assigned to receive ondansetron (group O) or saline control (group C) 10 minutes before positioning for induction of spinal anesthesia. A prophylactic phenylephrine infusion was used to prevent hypotension. The first patient in each group received a phenylephrine infusion at the rate of 0.5 µg/kg/min. The infusion rate for each subsequent patient was varied with increments or decrements of 0.05 µg/kg/min based on the response of the previous patient, and the effective dose of the phenylephrine infusion for preventing hypotension in 50% of patients (ED50) was calculated for each group and compared using up-down sequential analysis. Probit regression was applied as a backup and sensitivity analysis was used to compare ED50 values for phenylephrine between groups by comparing calculated relative mean potency.ResultsThe ED50 (mean [95% confidence interval (CI)]) of the rate of phenylephrine infusion was lower in group O (0.24 µg/kg/min [0.10-0.38 µg/kg/min]) compared with group C (0.32 µg/kg/min [0.14-0.47 µg/kg/min]) (P < .001). The total consumption of phenylephrine (mean ± standard deviation [SD]) until delivery was lower in group O (316.5 ± 25.9 µg) than in group C (387.7 ± 14.7 µg, P = .02). The estimate of relative median potency for phenylephrine for group O versus group C was 0.74 (95% CI, 0.37-0.95).ConclusionsUnder the conditions of this study, intravenous ondansetron 4 mg reduced the ED50 of a prophylactic phenylephrine infusion by approximately 26% in patients undergoing cesarean delivery under combined spinal-epidural anesthesia.

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    Notes

    pearl
    1

    Pre-spinal-anaesthesia administration of IV ondansetron 4 mg reduces the ED50 of prophylactic phenylephrine infusion by 26% among patients undergoing elective Caesarean section.

    Daniel Jolley  Daniel Jolley
    comment
    1

    Question is, can this finding be extrapolated/demonstrated in frail elderly patients receiving spinal anaesthesia for other reasons.

    Matthew Smith  Matthew Smith
    comment
    0

    @Doctormatt interestingly, not only is the pressor-sparing & hypotension-reducing benefits of prophylactic ondansetron not seen among elderly or frail patients – but it doesn't even seem to occur outside Caesarean sections! (at least wasn't when I last looked).

    Daniel Jolley  Daniel Jolley

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