Safeguards in nupercaine spinal anesthesia (a preliminary report of 108 consecutive cases operated in the North General Hospital during the last 18 months)

ABSTRACT

1. One hundred eight cases of different types of abdominal operations performed under spinal nupercaine anesthesia are presented2. The details of the technique and the safeguards are discussed fully. The safety of the patients depended mainly on the knowledge of the anesthetist about the physiology of spinal anesthesia, the complications to be avoided, should they occur, and they could be remedied3. From a practical standpoint, the paper is presented for the benefit of surgeons in the provinces who cannot avail of the services of a trained anesthetist. The complications have to be guarded against, so that remedial measures can at one be taken--lowering of the blood pressure and the signs of respiratory depression. Watching the patient during the first 10 minutes after the injection of the anesthetic is invaluable in the prevention of accidents which can very well mean death. Two cases are cited to prove this point4. Artificial respiration should be given at once and continued until automatic breathing is reestablished5. There was no mortality from anesthesia in this series. (Summary)