The influence of thoracic epidural analgesia on the circulation at rest and during physical exercise in man

The effects of thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) on the circulation at rest, during, and after physical exercise were investigated in 10 volunteers. At rest, TEA did not affect oxygen consumption (VO2) or cardiac output (Q), but heart rate (HR) was, increased by 7 beats/min, and stroke volume decreased correspondingly by 13 ml. Systolic arterial blood pressure was slightly reduced, but no other changes in systemic or pulmonary circulatory parameters were produced. TEA did not change VO2 during exercise, a 2.11/min reduction of Q being accompanied by a 4.2% increase of oxygen utilization coefficient. HR showed a relative reduction of about 10%. At moderate work loads during TEA, systemic arterial blood pressures were significantly lower than during control exercise. The resulting rate pressure product (RPP) was markedly reduced, while total peripheral resistance (TPR) remained unchanged. During recovery after the termination of exercise during TEA, VO2, Q, HR, RPP and TPR fell more rapidly towards values obtained at rest. From a clinical point of view the results support the safeness of TEA and also support its use in surgical patients with heart disease.