Abstract
When piglets were subjected to anaesthesia and surgery (placing electromagnetic flow-probes around the ascending aorta) and, additionally in part, to hypoxia (Pao2 lowered from 60-100 Torr [8-13.3 kPa] to 30-40 Torr[4-5.3 kPa] by changing Fio2), a remarkably uniform response of the cardiovascular system could be observed: Soon after the beginning of the experiment cardiac performance increased by 12-35 percent (p< 0.01) within 15-30 min. This was followed by a fatal decrease leading to cardiac failure accompanied by increasing metabolic acidosis.
In three groups mean survival time was approximately three hours: In the hypoxaemic newborns (n = 10), in both the normoxaemic (n = 8) and the hypoxaemic piglets two weeks of age (n = 8). The normoxaemic newborns (n = 8), however, survived significantly longer (416 ± 167 min; p < 0.001), and all the changes occured later. Survival time depended on pH decrease per hour in all groups and on the extent of the increase of heart rate in both hypoxaemic groups.
We conclude from our experiments that newborn and two weeks old biglets cannot sustain hypoxaemia of this degree longer than 80 min. Newborn piglets tolerate anaesthesia and surgery, not complicated by hypoxaemia, better than two weeks old animals.
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Angerpointner, T., Linderkamp, O., Stallinger, H. et al. Circulatory adaptation to hypoxaemia during anaesthesia and surgery in newborn and two weeks old piglets. Pediatr Res 14, 1427 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198012000-00113
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198012000-00113