[Circulatory behavior under electrostimulation anesthesia (ESA)]

A comparative study was made of the circulatory conditions during ESA via paravertebral electrodes and halothane anaesthesias and neurolept analgesia. During 654 operations (cholecystectomies, struma-surgery, vein by-pass grafting and varicotomies) heart rate and mean arterial pressure before the onset of anaesthesia and the highest intraoperative measured rates were compared. The same parameters after intubation/before the start of the operation respectively before and after the start of the operation were compared with regard to the specific type of anaesthesia. Before the start of surgery no marked reactions of the circulatory system were observed during ESA compared to other anaesthesia techniques. No difference in heart rate and mean arterial pressure were found during the start of the operation with the different anaesthetic techniques. For struma surgery the reaction of the circulatory system during ESA was significantly better than in halothane anaesthesia while during surgery of the upper abdomen and vein by-pass grafting in ESA patients there were significantly greater rises in heart rate and mean arterial pressure.