The purpose of this study was to find out the effect of midazolam and fentanyl on oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry in surgical patients under spinal anesthesia.
The subjects of this study were 83 patients who were operated on under spinal anesthesia, at a general hospital in Pusan, from December 1st, 1997 to March 31st, 1998. The subjects of Group 1 were 53 patients who did not: receive either of midazolam and fentanyl. The subjects of Group 2 were 21 patients who received midazolam. The subjects of Group 3 were 9 patients who received both midazolam and fentanyl.
Oxygen saturation was measured with a pulse oximeter by time series.
The collected data were analyzed by the SPSS / PC+ program and the results of the study were as follows :
1. There were no significant differences among the three experimental groups in terms of age or cardiopulmonary disease.
2. Among the three groups, there were statistically significant differences in Sp02 at 5 minutes after starting the operation or after intravenous injection of drugs. The SpO2 mean for Group 3 was 92.4%, for Group 2 it was 97.7%, and for Group 1 it was 98.2%.
3. Hypoxemia cases occurred in 88.9% of Group 3, 28.6% of Group 2, and 17.0% of Group 1, respectively.
It is concluded that oxygen saturation monitoring should be done routinely to all patients under spinal anesthesia, especially during operating time, and patients receiving midazolam and fentanyl should be monitored closely. After monitoring oxygen should be administered to all patients who developed hypoxemia.
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