Background: Autonomic dysfunction, commonly seen in patients with cervical myelopathy, may lead to a decrease in blood pressure intraoperatively.
Objective: The aim of our study is to determine if changes in Heart rate variability (HRV) could predict hypotension after induction of anesthesia in patients with cervical myelopathy undergoing spine surgery.
Methods and material: In this prospective observational study, 47 patients with cervical myelopathy were included. Five-minute resting ECG (5 lead) was recorded preoperatively and HRV of very low frequency (VLF), low frequency (LF), and high frequency (HF) spectra were calculated using frequency domain analysis. Incidence of hypotension (MAP <80 mmHg, lasting >5 min) and the number of interventions (40 mcg of phenylephrine or 5 mg of ephedrine) required to treat the hypotension during the period from induction to surgical incision were recorded. HRV indices were compared between the hypotension group and the stable group.
Results: The incidence of hypotension after induction was 74.4% (35/47) and the median (IQR) interventions needed to treat hypotension was 2 (0.5-6). Patients who experienced hypotension had lower HF power and higher LF-HF ratios. A LF/HF >2.5 indicated postinduction hypotension likely. There was a correlation between increasing LF-HF ratio and the number of interventions that needs to maintain the MAP above 80 mmHg.
Conclusion: HF power was lower and LF-HF ratio was higher in patients with cervical myelopathy who developed postinduction hypotension. Hence, preoperative HRV analysis can be useful to identify patients with cervical myelopathy who are at risk of post-induction hypotension.
Keywords: Cervical myelopathy; general anesthesia; heart rate variability; hypotension.