Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Dec 2003
The effects of thoracic epidural anesthesia on hepatic perfusion and oxygenation in healthy pigs during general anesthesia and surgical stress.
Perioperative liver injury due to decreased perfusion may be an underlying mechanism behind the development of systemic inflammatory response syndrome. We designed this animal study to assess whether thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA) impairs liver oxygenation due to induced hypotension. After ethical approval, 19 anesthetized and acutely instrumented pigs were randomly assigned to 3 groups (control and TEA alone versus TEA plus volume loading). ⋯ Volume loading before TEA did not relevantly affect total hepatic blood flow; it even decreased oxygen supply to the liver by hemodilution. We conclude that, despite decreased mean arterial blood pressure, TEA did not affect liver oxygenation. There was no clinically relevant effect of volume loading on total hepatic perfusion.