The effect of moderate intraoperative blood loss and norepinephrine therapy on sublingual microcirculatory perfusion in patients having open radical prostatectomy: An observational study

BACKGROUND It is not clear whether moderate intraoperative blood loss and norepinephrine used to restore the macrocirculation impair the microcirculation and affect microcirculation/macrocirculation coherence. OBJECTIVE We sought to investigate the effect of moderate intraoperative blood loss and norepinephrine therapy administered to treat intraoperative hypotension on the sublingual microcirculation. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, from November 2018 to March 2019. PATIENTS Thirty patients scheduled for open radical prostatectomy and 29 healthy volunteer blood donors. INTERVENTION Simultaneous assessment of the macrocirculation using a noninvasive finger-cuff method and the sublingual microcirculation using vital microscopy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The main outcome measures were changes in the sublingual microcirculation caused by moderate intraoperative blood loss and norepinephrine therapy. RESULTS General anaesthesia decreased median [IQR] mean arterial pressure from 100 [90 to 104] to 79 [69 to 87] mmHg (P 
Source: European Journal of Anaesthesiology - Category: Anesthesiology Tags: Haemodynamics Source Type: research