A TRIAL TO INVESTIGATE THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE SPINAL COLUMN LENGTH AND ABDOMINAL GIRTH, AND THE LEVEL OF SENSORY BLOCKADE IN SUBARACHNOID BLOCK IN PARTURIENTS REQUIRING SPINAL ANAESTHESIA FOR LOWER SEGMENT CAESAREAN SECTION.

Abstract

Introduction Spinal anaesthesia (SA) is a type of regional anaesthesia which obstructs nerve roots coursing through the subarachnoid space. It is a reliable technique that has become a preferred technique in lower segment caesarean section. Sensory blocking up to T4 dermatome level is required during Caesarean section, as this not only suppresses somatic sensations but also removes visceral discomfort caused by peritoneum manipulation. However, because of this, the nal extent of anesthesia remains unpredictable which may cause inadequate local anaesthesia or excessive block which may increase hemodynamic instability and be hazardous to the patients. Hence, predicting and controlling the spread of local anaesthesia in the cerebrospinal uid is crucial which can be achieved by studying the factors that inuence the extent of spinal anaesthesia. Such factors include the patient's general features, the characteristics of the injected solution, the clinical technique used and so on. The current study was undertaken to investigate the correlation between patient's general features such as the spinal column length and abdominal girth, and the level of sensory blockade in subarachnoid block for a given amount of local anaesthetic. The current prospective study cohort includes 100 parturients who rece Methods ived 2mL of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine for subarachnoid block. Height, weight, spinal column length, and abdominal girth were measured and recorded. Sensory level of blockade achieved was noted at 3 minutes and 25 minutes. The data was recorded in Microsoft excel and the analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Results Analysis indicated a negative association between abdominal girth and thoracic dermatome levels at 3 minutes (r-value=-0.042) and this association was found statistically insignicant (p-value=0.410>0.05). Similarly, at 25 minutes, there was a negative association between abdominal girth and thoracic dermatome levels (r-value=-0.201), however, this association was statistically signicant (p-value=0.017<0.05). The spinal column length and thoracic dermatome levels showed negative association that was statistically insignicant at both the 3 (r-value=- 0.409, p-value = 0.673>0.05) and 25-minute (r-value=-0.148, p-value=0.530>0.05) time points. From o Conclusion ur study we concluded that spinal column length was not a contributing factor to the level of blockade either at the onset of blockade or the nal spread. However, abdominal girth did have an inuence on the level of blockade. In order to conrm these results and reach a more satisfactory conclusion, studies in larger population need to be conducted.