Hypotension and bradycardia before spinal anesthesia

I report a case of hypotension and bradycardia before spinal anesthesia in a pregnant woman with mild to moderate hypertension treated with nifedipine and methyldopa, scheduled for an elective cesarean delivery. She had the history of neurally-mediated syncopes. Two main factors (increased vagal ton...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Carlos Javier Shiraishi Zapata
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2017-09-01
Series:Brazilian Journal of Anesthesiology
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0104001415001232
Description
Summary:I report a case of hypotension and bradycardia before spinal anesthesia in a pregnant woman with mild to moderate hypertension treated with nifedipine and methyldopa, scheduled for an elective cesarean delivery. She had the history of neurally-mediated syncopes. Two main factors (increased vagal tone and adverse effects of antihypertensive drugs) could explain the hypotension and bradycardia before spinal anesthesia. Monitoring allowed recognizing the problem and corrected it. Thus, it was avoided a disaster in anesthesia, as hemodynamic changes after spinal anesthesia, they would have joined to previous hypotension and bradycardia, which would have caused even a cardiac arrest. Resumo: Relato de um caso de hipotensão e bradicardia antes da raquianestesia em uma mulher grávida com hipertensão leve a moderada tratada com nifedipina e metildopa, programada para parto cesário eletivo. A paciente apresentava história de síncopes neuralmente mediadas. Dois fatores principais (aumento do tônus vagal e efeitos adversos de medicamentos anti-hipertensivos) poderiam explicar a hipotensão e bradicardia antes da raquianestesia. O monitoramento permitiu reconhecer o problema e corrigi-lo. Assim, foi evitado um desastre em anestesia; assim como as alterações hemodinâmicas após a raquianestesia, esses fatores teriam se juntado à hipotensão e bradicardia anterior, o que poderia ter causado inclusive uma parada cardíaca. Keywords: Hypotension, Bradycardia, Vagal tone, Antihypertensives drugs, Palavras-chave: Hipotensão, Bradicardia, Tônus vagal, Medicamentos anti-hipertensivos
ISSN:0104-0014