Anesthetic Technique Important to Prevent Damage to Brain

According to a study published online in The Laryngoscope, researchers at the University of Adelaide have discovered that a commonly used anesthetic technique to reduce the blood pressure of patients undergoing surgery could increase the risk of starving the brain of oxygen. Known as hypotensive anesthesia, which slows the arterial blood pressure by up to 40 percent, this technique may damage the brain and other organs, if the blood pressure is lowered too far. Professor P.J. Wormald, a sinus, head and neck surgeon from the University’s Discipline of Surgery, led a world-first study, looking at both the effectiveness of hypotensive anesthesia from the surgeon’s point of view and its impact on the patients. He says, “There is also a widely accepted concept that the brain has the ability to autoregulate … despite a wide range of blood pressure conditions. Our studies challenge this; they show that the brain can only autoregulate up to a point, and cannot completely adapt to such low blood pressures.” To read more about this study, click here.