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Respiratory mechanics during and after anaesthesia for major vascular surgery
C A Volta1, M Verri, E R Righini
1Department of Biomedical Science and Advanced Therapy, Section of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, S. Anna Hospital, University of Ferrara, Italy.
Abstract:
To evaluate the effects of major vascular surgery on respiratory mechanics, 11 patients undergoing general anaesthesia for abdominal aortic surgery were studied. Before aortic cross-clamping, chest wall elastance and resistance both increased (by 126% and 58%, respectively) when surgical retractors were placed. After aortic cross-clamping, lung elastance increased by 29%, accompanied by a decrease in cardiac index (22%) and an increase in pulmonary (17%) and systemic (15%) vascular resistance. After aortic unclamping, lung elastance decreased, although it remained higher than baseline values (by 12%). All cardiovascular variables returned to the values obtained before aortic cross-clamping.