Predictors of hypotension during surgical management of femoral fractures in spinal anesthesia

Introduction. Femoral fractures are the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly. The aim of this study was to establish the predictors of hypotension in the elderly patients with femoral fractures during surgery in spinal anesthesia. Material and Methods. This retrospective study included 454 patients and investigated the relationship between hypotension and predictive factors for the development of hypotension using binary logistic regression. A paired sample T-test for dependent variables was used to compare the mean arterial pressure before and after the surgical procedure. Three mean arterial pressure values were compared between subjects receiving bupivacaine and subjects who received levobupivacaine: preoperative, the lowest value during the surgery, and the mean arterial pressure at the end of the surgery. Results. The age of the subjects ranged from 20 to 93 years (mean = 71.56; standard deviation = 13.26, median = 74). The mean arterial pressure values during the preoperative evaluation (103.2 ± 14.7) were higher than the last mean arterial pressure during surgery (84.8 ± 13.6) and these differences were statistically significant (p < 0.001). The group of subjects who received levobupivacaine presented with higher values of median arterial pressure (73.99) than the group receiving bupivacaine (70.76). Conclusion. The predictors of hypotension during surgery of patients with femoral fractures in spinal anesthesia are elderly age and preoperative use of beta blockers.