Effect of high thoracic extradural anaesthesia on ventilatory response to hypercapnia in normal volunteers

We have investigated, in six healthy male volunteers, the effect of high thoracic extradural anaesthesia on the ventilatory pattern and hypercapnic ventilatory response. Ventilatory variables were determined using a respiratory inductive plethysmograph. Duration of inspiration, rib cage excursion and its contribution to tidal volume decreased significantly following extradural anaesthesia, while mean inspiratory flow rate and minute ventilation increased. End-tidal PCO2 and the tidal excursion of the abdomen were unchanged. Hypercapnic ventilatory response decreased significantly following extradural anaesthesia, principally because of the rib cage component. The slope of the abdominal component did not change significantly. The results indicate that mechanical impairment of rib cage movement can produce decreased ventilatory response to carbon dioxide. The ventilatory impairment and the changes in breathing pattern induced by the high thoracic extradural anaesthesia probably reflect blockade of the efferent or afferent pathway (or both) of the intercostal nerve roots.