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Updated: Nov 23, 2025

Image Acquisition Method for the Sonographic Assessment of the Inferior Vena Cava
Published on: January 13, 2023
Internal Jugular Vein Ultrasonography in Prediction of Postspinal Hypotension
Yeliz Kılıç1, Sema Sanal Bas1, Gülay Erdoğan Kayhan1
1Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Faculty of Medicine, Osmangazi University, Eskişehir, Turkey.
Objective:
To determine the role of internal jugular vein (IJV) ultrasonography to predict postspinal hypotension in patients undergoing elective surgery.
Study Design:
A prospective observational study.
Place And Duration Of Study:
Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Osmangazi University, Eskişehir, Turkey, from January to September 2020.
Methodology:
Patients aged between 18 and 65 years, who underwent elective surgery under spinal anesthesia, were included in the study. Sonographic examination of IJV was performed before spinal anesthesia. Significant postspinal hypotension was defined as a mean arterial pressure less than 65 mmHg or more than 20% decrease compared to the baseline value. The patients were classified as hypotensive and non-hypotensive groups. The association between sonographic IJV measurements and postspinal hypotension was analysed.
Results:
The evaluation was performed on 47 patients. Twenty-two (46.8%) patients developed postspinal hypotension. The two groups were similar in all baseline characteristics (p>0.05). Among all sonographic measurements, IJV collapsibility index was significantly different between the two groups (p=0.014). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that IJV collapsibility index had a sensitivity of 64% and a specificity of 63.6% to predict the postspinal hypotension at a cut-off point of 22.6%. Area under curve (AUC) was 0.709.
Conclusion:
Despite the moderate sensitivity and specifity rates, IJV collapsibility index can be considered as an alternative predictor of postspinal hypotension. Key Words: Internal jugular vein, Postspinal hypotension, Spinal anesthesia, Ultrasonography.
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