Greater peripheral blood flow but less bleeding with propofol versus sevoflurane during spine surgery: a possible physiologic model?
Despite the greater blood flow when it is used, propofol causes less bleeding than sevoflurane during spine surgery and could be more indicated to produce hypotension during anesthesia. Moreover, it is possible to explain our findings hypothesizing a selective vasodilation of propofol (postcapillary, venous vasodilation), different from that of sevoflurane (precapillary, arteriolar vasodilation).
Our pilot study suggests that brain volumes of opioid-exposed babies may be smaller than population means and that specific regions, for example, basal ganglia, that are involved in neurotransmission, may be particularly affected. Larger studies including correlation with neurodevelopmental outcomes are warranted to substantiate this finding.