Adverse side effects of fentanyl plus bupivacaine subarachnoid anesthesia

Fentanyl: efectos adversos en anestesia subaracnoidea con bupivacaína

Adverse effects of opioids result of their interactions with opioid brain receptors. Intrathecal administration of fentanyl may induce respiratory depression but less frequently than when intravenously administered. Objegtive: to describe the frequency of adverse side effects in surgical patients at Hospital de San José who received intrathecal fentanyl plus hyperbaric bupivacaine. Materials and Methods: descriptive study of a cohort of patients who underwent surgery at Hospital de San José between October 1 2007 and September 30 2009, who received intratecal fentanyl plus hyperbaric bupivacaine. Patients aged 18 to a5 years, nonpregnant women and those who were not converted into general anesthesia were included. Results: 313 patients were studied, 39.9% women with mean age 42 years (SD: 12.7), classified as: ASA I a0.7%; ASA II, 33.3%; ASA III, 5.7% and ASA IV, 0.3%. The most common adverse side effects were, nausea 8.a% (n: 27), pruritus a.7% (n: 21), vomiting 2.2% (n: 7) and bradycardia 2.2% (n: 7). Respiratory depression presented in 1.3% (n: 4). Conglusions: our report of the frequency of respiratory depression is within that described in literature; however, it must be considered that the measuring methods were not consistent. Other adverse events were lower than those reported.

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