Abstract

Complications during spinal anesthesia were studied prospectively in 1881 patients. Twenty-six percent of the patients suffered from one or more complications. The most common complications were hypotension (16.4%) and bradycardia (8.9%). The risk for hypotension was found to be higher with increasing age of patients ( p < 0.005). Higher peak sensory level significantly increased the risk for hypotension ( p < 0.0001), bradycardia ( p < 0.0001) and nausea ( p < 0.0001). Female patients suffered significantly more hypotension ( p < 0.001), nausea ( p < 0.001) and vomiting ( p < 0.001) than males. Cementation of prosthesis and deflation of the leg tourniquet were other risk factors demonstrated in this study.