Effects of intraoperative adrenergic administration on postoperative hyperlactatemia in open colon surgery: an observational study.

Abstract

BACKGROUND\nPostoperative Hyperlactatemia (PO-HL) is a frequent condition associated with poor prognosis. In recent years, there has been growing evidence that adrenergic stimulation may contribute to increased lactate levels. The use of adrenergic agonists for the control of intraoperative hypotension is frequent, and its impact on the development of PO-HL is unknown.\n\n\nOBJECTIVE\nTo evaluate whether the use of intraoperative adrenergic agents is associated with the occurrence of PO-HL.\n\n\nMETHODS\nThis was a prospective observational study. The inclusion criteria were undergoing elective open colon surgery, being ≥60 years old and signing informed consent. The exclusion criteria were cognitive impairment, unplanned surgery, and anticipated need for postoperative mechanical ventilation. Baseline and intraoperative variables were collected, and arterial lactate data were collected at baseline and every 6\u202fhours postoperatively for 24\u202fhours. Hyperlactatemia was defined as lactate >2.1 mEq.L-1.\n\n\nRESULTS\nWe studied 28 patients, 61% of whom developed hyperlactatemia. The variables associated with PO-HL in the univariate analysis were anesthetic time, the total dose of intraoperative ephedrine, and lower intraoperative central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2). Multivariate analysis confirmed the association between the use of ephedrine (p\u202f=\u202f0.004), intraoperative hypotension (p\u202f=\u202f0.026), and use of phenylephrine (p\u202f=\u202f0.001) with PO-HL.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nThe use of intraoperative ephedrine, phenylephrine and intraoperative hypotension were independently associated with the development of PO-HL. This finding should lead to new studies in this field, as well as a judicious interpretation of the finding of a postoperative increase in lactate levels.