Effect of Hot Bag Application on the Extremities in Angiography of Patients with Raynaud's Syndrome

PURPOSE: It is sometimes difficult to evaluate the angiographic findings pertaining to spasm of the arteries in the hands and feet in patients with Raynaud's syndrome. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of applying a hot bag to the hands and/or feet for the control of vasospasm in patients with Raynaud's syndrome during angiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty five cases (hands: feet=15:30) in forty patients (M:F=9:31, mean age; 39 years) with Raynaud's syndrome whose conventional angiography demonstrated the presence of vasospasm were included. First, digital subtraction angiography of the extremities was performed at room temperature (20 to 21 degrees Celsius). Then a hot bag was applied for 5 minutes on the hand or foot, and a post-hot bag angiography of the extremity was performed. The angiographic findings were classified into 6 grades in the case of the feet (0; anterior/posterior tibial artery, 1; dorsalis pedis /lateral plantar artery, 2; arcuate artery/plantar arch, 3; metatarsal artery, 4; digital artery, 5; blushing of toe tip) and 5 grades in the case of the hands (0; ulnar/radial artery, 1; palmar arch, 2; common palmar artery, 3; proper palmar artery, 4; blushing of finger tip) according to the level of the visualized vessels on the angiography. The time and the time difference to maximal visualization of the vessels between the measurements taken at room temperature and those taken after the hot bag application were calculated. RESULTS: In all cases, more vessels were visualized after the hot bag application than at room temperature. After the application of the hot bag, the grade of vessel visualization was increased in both the feet (range; 1-4, mean; 2.3) and hands (range; 1-2, mean; 1.4). The time to the maximal visualization of the vessels was faster after the hot bag application than at room temperature. The time difference between the two groups ranged from 1 to 33 seconds (mean; 12.3 seconds) in the feet and 2 to 26 seconds (mean; 11.8 seconds) in the hands. CONCLUSION: Angiography of patients with Raynaud's syndrome showed that the application of a hot bag provides a convenient and effective method of relieving the vasospasm of the vessels of the hands or feet.

Neurologic Sequelae Following Spinal Anesthesia / 대한마취과학회지

Spinal anesthesia is a safe anesthetic technique and relative easy to perform, but occasionally neurologic injuries after spinal anesthesia have been reported. A 53-year old female patient visited the emergency room due to abdominal pain and she was diagnosed with acute appendicitis. Thus, an emergent appendectomy was planned. During the preoperative evaluation, we noticed that she had a history of intermittent low back pain for the previous 5 years. However, because her stomach was not fully empty, we decided to administer spinal anesthesia. When the spinal needle passed the subarachnoid membrane, she suddenly complained of severe paresthesia on her right posterior thigh. However the parethesia subsided soon, and 2.2 cc of 0.5% bupivacaine was injected via a spinal needle, and aftewards, an appendectomy was done without any complications. As she recovered from the spinal anesthesia, she started complaining of shooting, stabbing and burning pain on her right buttock and posterior thigh Because a neurologic injury after spinal anesthesia was suspected, we inserted an epidural catheter to the same lumbar vertebral level for administering the mepivacaine and ketamine mixture and we also performed a right second sacral nerve root block and a lumbar sympathetic ganglion block. Magnetic Resonance Imaging showed spondylosis of lumbar spine and associated disc degeneration and a bulging disc at the L3-4, L4-5 and L5-S1 level. After treatments, her symptoms improved gradually. When she was discharged on the 16th hospital day, she complained of only minor discomfort on her right posterior thigh.