Shankar K B, Moseley H, Vemula V, Ramasamy M, Kumar Y
Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, University of West Indies, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados.
Can J Anaesth. 1989 Mar;36(2):124-7. doi: 10.1007/BF03011432.
Sixteen patients requiring general anaesthesia for termination of pregnancy by dilatation and evacuation of the uterus were studied. Arterial and end-tidal carbon dioxide tensions were determined during anaesthesia. The mean arterial to end-tidal carbon dioxide tension difference was 0.07 kPa (-0.02-0.16, 5-95 per cent confidence limits). These results were similar to those observed during Caesarean section and those during anaesthesia for post-delivery tubal ligations. The physiological changes such as increased cardiac output, haemodilution, and increased blood volume which manifest by 12 weeks of gestation probably result in a reduced (a-E')PCO2 value.
