[Changes in the blood flow in celiac artery and superior mesenteric artery after stellate ganglion block].

We evaluated the effect of stellate ganglion block (SGB) on the blood flow of celiac artery (CA) and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) by using the ultrasonic pulse Doppler technique. The subjects were 15 healthy volunteers (14 males, one female; average 26 years old; 22-38). Right C7-SGB was performed using 5 ml of 1% mepivacaine at the 7th cervical process. Blood pressure, heart rate, mean blood flow velocity and diameter in CA and SMA, were measured after 5 minute rest, before and after SGB. To measure the flow velocity and the diameter of vessels, ultrasonic diagnostic equipment SSA-270A or SSA-260A (Thoshiba CO, Ltd.) with convex electric-phased 3.75 MHz, probe was used. Doppler shiftgrams of the CA and SMA were recorded. Then, we calculated their flow volume and sectional area of vessels. In CA mean blood flow velocity tended to decrease (P < 0.05) and both flow volume and sectional area of vessels tended to increase (P < 0.001). In SMA, mean flow velocity tended to decrease (P < 0.05) and sectional area increased (P < 0.001). But flow volume did not show significant change. Our results indicate that right C7-SGB leads to an increase in the blood flow of CA.