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Canadian Journal of Anesthesia, Vol 33, 578-582, Copyright © 1986 by Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society

Effect of Diltiazeminduced Hypotension on Normal and Increased Intracranial Pressure of Cats

SOMASUNDARAM THIAGARAJAH MD FFARCS1, ISAAC AZAR MD1, ERWIN LEAR MD1, and DONALD RUDOLF MD1

1 Department of Anesthesiology, Beth Israel Medical Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, N.Y.

Address correspondence to: Dr. Somasundaram Thiagarajah, Department of Anesthesiology, Beth Israel Medical Center, First Avenue at 16th Street, New York, N.Y. 10003.

The commonly used vasodilators sodium nitroprusside and nitroglycerin increase intracranial pressure (ICP) and cause tachycardia. Since diltiazem is also a vasodilator, we designed this experiment in cats to study its effect on intracranial pressure and heart rate (HR). Twelve cats were assigned to two equal groups. One group had normal ICP (N-ICP), while in the other the ICP was raised artificially (AR-ICP) by placing a balloon into the intracranial extradural space. Both groups received an infusion of diltiazem to decrease the mean blood pressure (BP), which was maintained 30 per cent below the baseline value for 15 minutes.

Diltiazem caused no significant change in ICP (5.7 ± 1 to 6.7 ± 1.5 mmHg, p < 0.01) in cats with N-ICP while in cats with AR-ICP, the increase from 26.9 ± 0.5 to 34.0 ± 1.9 mmHg was significant (p< 0.006). HR decreased significantly during the diltiazem infusion in both groups.

Key Words: BRAIN: intracranial pressure • HYPOTENSION INDUCED: diltiazem






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Copyright © 1986 by the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society.