Volume kinetics of acetated Ringer's solution during experimental spinal anaesthesia

Background: General anaesthesia lowers the clearance of crystalloid fluid, but the volume kinetics of such fluid throughout the duration of spinal anaesthesia has not been studied.

Methods: Ten female volunteers (mean age 29 years) received an intravenous infusion of 25 ml/kg of acetated Ringer's solution with and without spinal anaesthesia. A volume kinetic model was fitted to serial measurements of the haemoglobin concentration over 240 min based on arterial, cubital vein, and femoral vein blood. The measured urine flow was compared to the model-predicted elimination.

Results: The arterial pressure remained stable, although the block reached to Th3-Th5 in half of the volunteers. There were no differences in fluid kinetics between the spinal anaesthesia and the control experiments. The administered volume was well confined to the kinetic system, which consisted of two communicating fluid spaces that were 2.8 l and approximately 7 l in size at baseline. The arteriovenous difference in plasma dilution remained positive for 30 min post-infusion in those having analgesia reaching to Th3-Th5, which differed significantly from low-level analgesia (Th12-L2, P < 0.03) when venous plasma was sampled from the leg. The urinary excretion averaged 1.13 l and 1.01 l for the spinal and control experiments, respectively. Volume kinetics predicted the urinary excretion at 5- to 10-min intervals with an overall bias of 52 ml.

Conclusion: Acetated Ringer's solution showed the same kinetics during experimental spinal anaesthesia as when the fluid was infused alone. Hence, spinal anaesthesia is not associated with the reduced fluid clearance reported for general anaesthesia.