Hypotensive Anaesthesia In Skull Base Surgeries – Our Experience

Abstract

Endoscopic surgery is a technique that can be used in all fields of surgery. From simple endonasal procedures to complex skull base approaches, it can be used in multiple scenarios. It has major advantages by avoiding external scars, decreasing normal tissue damage, and providing a better recovery time and duration of hospital stay. Even then, intra-op bleeding is a big hindrance to endoscopic visualization of surgical field. Blood reduces the view of the surgical field and blurs the endoscope lens hence causing difficulty in visualising the field of surgery. This can lead to the risk of complications which range from brain injury, orbital or optic nerve injury, and injury to major vessels. In such cases the use of Hypotensive anaesthesia is a valid modality as it maintains the patient at a low blood pressure and thus reducing the chances of intra-op and post-op bleeding and provides a clear surgical field and also helps the patient for a better recovery. Hypotension can induced using different range of drugs with each one having its advantages and disadvantages. Thus this study aims at observing the effects of hypotensive anaesthesia in patients undergoing skull base surgery and its effect on intra op and post op bleeding, recovery and the need for antihypertensives.