Arterial and end-tidal Carbon Dioxide Tension Changes during Spinal Anaesthesia in Upper Abdominal Laparoscopic Surgeries: A Comparison with General Anaesthesia

Nowadays, laparoscopic surgeries are being performed under subarachnoid block (sab) safely. aims: this study was to compare the arterial and end-tidal carbon dioxide (co2) tension changes during spinal and general anaesthesia (ga) in co2 pneumoperitoneum for upper abdominal laparoscopic surgeries. settings and design: this was a prospective randomized comparative clinical study. materials and methods: eighty patients posted for upper abdominal laparoscopic surgeries were randomly allocated to two groups either to receive standard ga or lumbar sab. results: the demographic profiles of both the groups were comparable. the paco2 was increased gradually and sustained at its peaks within 20±4.37 minutes in both the groups. the mean±sd revealed to be higher in group b (41.5500±2.1315) than group a (40.8460±2.1136), but the difference between the two was not statistically significant (p=0.6142). there was a gradual increase in etco2 over the initial 10±2.07 minutes and reached a plateau within 20±5.74 minutes in both the groups and declined faster after deflation of pneumoperitoneum in sab group. the mean±sd was found to be higher in group b (33.923±1.642) than group a (33.408±1.772), but it was also not statistically significant (p=0.4492). the difference of the arterial blood ph between the groups was not statistically significant. three (7.5%) patients developed transient urinary retention and 2 (5%) patients suffered from post-dural puncture headache in sab group. conclusions: arterial and end-tidal co2 tension changes during upper abdominal laparoscopic surgery under sab remain within physiological limit and comparable to the co2 tensions under ga. however, per-operative complications in sab are greater, while it is lesser in postoperative period in comparison to ga. sab may be adopted in asa physical status i patients with proper preoperative counselling.