Deliberate arterial hypotension does not reduce intraocular pressure in pigs

Among the accepted advantages of general anesthesia in ophthalmic surgery is improved control of intraocular pressure (IOP). Although standard textbooks advocate deliberate arterial hypotension to facilitate intraocular surgery by reducing IOP, scientific proof of such an effect is lacking. The authors investigated effects of induced arterial hypotension on IOP in an anesthetized porcine model. Forty-two piglets were anesthetized with piritramide, were placed in the prone position, and had the anterior chamber of one eye punctured with a small Teflon cannula to measure IOP. Six pigs were used in a pilot study to establish dose-response relationships for the hypotensive agents; 36 pigs were randomly allocated to one of three groups (n = 12) to receive nitroprusside, adenosine, or isoflurane to reduce mean arterial pressure (MAP) by 50%. Measurements were made after initial stabilization of hemodynamic variables and IOP (control), when a stable MAP of 0.5x control was maintained for 10 min or longer, and after return of MAP to a posthypotensive steady state. The median of differences between time intervals was analyzed statistically for all variables. Nitroprusside and adenosine produced hyperdynamic hypotension (cardiac index increased); isoflurane-induced hypotension was hypodynamic. Control IOPs were 12.9, 12.5, and 11.1 mmHg in the nitroprusside, adenosine, and isoflurane groups, respectively. Median change in IOP during hypotension was -1.5, +1.5, and 0 mmHg in the nitroprusside, adenosine, and isoflurane groups, respectively. The IOP during adenosine-induced hypotension was significantly higher than that during either nitroprusside- or isoflurane-induced hypotension. Return of MAP to control levels was frequently associated with intraocular rebound hypertension when arterial hypotension had been induced with adenosine or nitroprusside.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)