Induction of general anesthesia often induces a decrease in the mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) caused by arterial and venous dilatation. Fluid administration is conventionally used to increase the patient's total blood volume, but is often associated with multiple adverse events such as postoperative edema. Arterial hypotension can also be treated by vasopressor agents such as norepinephrine and phenylephrine which mainly increase the blood pressure by arterial vasoconstriction. Compared to phenylephrine, norepinephrine has a shorter half-life (2 - 3 minutes) and improves the MAP by increase in cardiac contractility. In a recent study at our department it was demonstrated that besides arterial vasoconstriction, phenylephrine also improves venous return and cardiac output by venous vasoconstriction. The aim of this study is to compare the hemodynamic effects of both vasopressor agents in patients undergoing deep inferior epigastric perforators (DIEP) flap surgery. If significant differences between both agents are demonstrated, these findings can provide an important basis for future recommendations.
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pulse pressure variation
Timeframe: perioperative