Internal Jugular Vein Ultrasonography in Prediction of Postspinal Hypotension.

Abstract

To determine the role of internal jugular vein (IJV) ultrasonography to predict postspinal hypotension in patients undergoing elective surgery. A prospective observational study. Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Osmangazi University, Eskişehir, Turkey, from January to September 2020. Patients aged between 18 and 65 years, who underwent elective surgery under spinal anesthesia, were included in the study. Sonographic examination of IJV was performed before spinal anesthesia. Significant postspinal hypotension was defined as a mean arterial pressure less than 65 mmHg or more than 20% decrease compared to the baseline value. The patients were classified as hypotensive and non-hypotensive groups. The association between sonographic IJV measurements and postspinal hypotension was analysed. The evaluation was performed on 47 patients. Twenty-two (46.8%) patients developed postspinal hypotension. The two groups were similar in all baseline characteristics (p>0.05). Among all sonographic measurements, IJV collapsibility index was significantly different between the two groups (p=0.014). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that IJV collapsibility index had a sensitivity of 64% and a specificity of 63.6% to predict the postspinal hypotension at a cut-off point of 22.6%. Area under curve (AUC) was 0.709. Despite the moderate sensitivity and specifity rates, IJV collapsibility index can be considered as an alternative predictor of postspinal hypotension. Key Words: Internal jugular vein, Postspinal hypotension, Spinal anesthesia, Ultrasonography.