A Randomized, Double-Blind, Graded Dose-Response Study of Norepinephrine Administration for Prevention of Post-Spinal Hypotension during Elective Cesarean Delivery.

Norepinephrine has been recently introduced for prophylaxis against post-spinal hypotension during cesarean delivery; however, no data are available regarding its optimum dosing scheme. The primary objective of this study is to compare three different infusion and bolus dose combinations of norepinephrine for prophylaxis against post-spinal hypotension during cesarean delivery. This randomized, double-blind study was performed between February 2021 and May 2022. The study protocol was registered at Clinicaltrials.gov with the identification number NCT04701190. A total of 192 parturients were enrolled into this study. Patients were assigned to three groups-Zero-Bolus High-Infusion (Group ZBHI, 0 µg/0.1 µg kg-1 min-1, n = 61), Moderate-Bolus Moderate-Infusion (Group MBMI, 5 µg/0.075 µg kg-1 min-1, n = 61) and High-Bolus Low-Infusion (Group HBLI, 10 µg/0.05 µg kg-1 min-1, n = 61)-according to different combinations of norepinephrine infusion and bolus doses. All patients received spinal anesthesia with 10 mg hyperbaric bupivacaine plus 12.5 µg fentanyl. Immediately after cerebrospinal fluid was obtained, patients underwent a norepinephrine protocol corresponding to the randomized group. The primary outcome was the incidence of post-spinal hypotension. Secondary outcomes were post-delivery hypotension, frequency of post-spinal hypertension and bradycardia, and neonatal outcomes. The incidence of post-spinal hypotension was 11.7% in Group HBLI, 6.7% in Group ZBHI and 1.7% in Group MBMI (p = 0.1). The overall incidence of post-delivery hypotension in parturients was 41.1% (p = 0.797). The lowest frequency of post-spinal bradycardia (8.3%) and hypertension (11.7%) was seen in Group HBLI. The neonatal APGAR scores at 1st minute were higher in Group MBMI than in Group ZBHI (8.58 vs. 8.23, p = 0.001). All three infusion and bolus dose combinations of norepinephrine effectively reduced the incidence of post-spinal hypotension. However, high-dose bolus (10 µg) followed by low-dose infusion (0.05 µg kg-1 min-1) of norepinephrine can be preferred due to the reduced frequency of bradycardia and hypertension during cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia.

Unilateral Sixth Cranial Nerve Palsy Following C/S as a Complication of Spinal Anaesthesia.

Cranial nerve palsy (CNP) is a rare complication following lumbar puncture, which is a common procedure used most often for diagnostic and anaesthetic purposes. The sixth cranial (abducens) nerve is the most commonly affected cranial nerve. We report a case of unilateral sixth nerve palsy after spinal anaesthesia that improved immediately after an epidural blood patch (EBP).

Prophylaxis with recombinant-activated factor VII (rFVIIa) for minimally invasive surgery in a patient with congenital factor VII deficiency: a case report with a single-low dose of rFVIIa.

Congenital factor VII deficiency is a rare autosomal-recessive disorder and surgery in patients with factor VII deficiency has been reported to be endangered by intraoperative or postoperative bleeding, unless a replacement therapy is used. In this paper, we report a successful prophylaxis with single and low dose rFVIIa (12.5 microg kg(-1)) in a 22-year-old homozygote factor VII deficient patient who underwent laparoscopic gynecologic surgery. Minimally invasive surgeries, such as laparoscopic surgery, could be safely performed in patients with congenital factor VII using single and low dose rFVIIa combined with vigilant clinical observation and laboratory examination.