Comparison of 5 mg tetracaine diluted in 1 ml, 2 ml and 4 ml of 10% glucose for spinal anesthesia.
The influence of variations in the volume of injectate when maintaining an identical dose of a hyperbaric local anesthetic has not previously been investigated when performing spinal anesthesia. This study compares spinal anesthesia of 5 mg of lyophilized tetracaine diluted in 1 ml, 2 ml or 4 ml of 10% glucose in 45 elderly patients undergoing elective hip surgery. While supine and horizontal, each patient received double-blind one of the three solutions through a catheter inserted 4 cm into the intrathecal space at the L2-L3 or L3-L4 interspace. No difference in the anesthetic effects was found between the three groups. The median value of the maximal sensory level was T6 (range T3-L2), T4 (range T3-T9) and T5 (range T3-T11) in the 1-ml, 2-ml, and 4-ml groups, respectively. The number of patients with a motor blockade of grade 2 or 3 was 12/15, 14/15 and 13/15, and the time from the initial dose to the need for the first top-up dose (mean +/- s.d.) was 88 +/- 35 min, 75 +/- 15 min and 68 +/- 15 min for the 1-ml, 2-ml and 4-ml groups, respectively. Hemodynamic changes were also comparable between the three groups. The authors conclude that in elderly patients, undergoing spinal anesthesia while supine and horizontal, variations in volume from 1 to 4 ml do not influence the characteristics of hyperbaric spinal anesthesia while injecting an identical dose of local anesthetic.