Post-operative pressure lability and cardiac baroreflex in normotensive patients as a function of age

Background: Pressure lability may be linked to the loss of the cardiac baroreflex. The reduction of the sensitivity of the cardiac baroreflex has not been delineated in the post‐operative period according to age in normotensive patients. This study addresses pressure lability and slope of the cardiac baroreflex as a function of age. Methods: Patients were allocated to the following three groups: young (20–39 years, n=7), middle aged (40–59 years, n=7) and elderly (60–79 years, n=6), and studied before minor intra‐abdominal surgery under CO₂ peritoneal insufflation and nitrous oxide–isoflurane–sufentanil anesthesia, up to 24 h after extubation. An electrocardiogram and non‐invasive beat‐by‐beat pressure monitoring (Finapres^®) allowed offline calculation of the sensitivity of the cardiac baroreflex (‘sequence’ technique) and standard deviation (SD) of heart rate (HR; HR variability) and systolic blood pressure (SBP; pressure lability). Results: Before anesthesia, (a) an inverse relationship was observed between the slope of the cardiac baroreflex and age and (b) a trend (P<0.09) existed between the slope of the cardiac baroreflex and pressure lability, irrespective of age. During the early post‐operative period, young patients returned to their baseline slope of the cardiac baroreflex; no inverse relationship between increased SD of SBP and decreased SD of RR interval was observed. Middle‐aged and elderly patients displayed a depressed slope of the cardiac baroreflex both before and after anesthesia. Conclusion: At variance with the pre‐operative period, no simple inverse relationship was observed between increased pressure lability and depressed HR variability in young patients during the early post‐operative period.