Results of hypotensive anesthesia in operative treatment of thoracolumbar fractures.

In a retrospective study of 109 patients who had Harrington instrumentation of thoracolumbar fractures, the results of normotensive anesthesia (75 patients) were compared with those of deliberate hypotensive anesthesia (34 patients). Estimated blood loss (EBL) and EBL per minute were significantly less (p less than 0.05) with hypotensive anesthesia. Neurological status of patients with incomplete or no deficits, monitored intraoperatively with either the Stagnara wake-up test (63 patients) or with somatosensory evoked potentials (23 patients), did not change during either the normotensive or hypotensive anesthesia. Deliberate hypotensive anesthesia is a safe and effective method for reducing blood loss during posttraumatic spinal stabilizations.