Vol. 5, Issue 2, Part A (2023)

Background: Perfusion Index is a reliable non-invasive monitoring indicator in predicting the incidence of hypotension following spinal anaesthesia in parturient undergoing elective caesarean section. The present study was undertaken to determine whether a baseline PI >3.5 predicts the development of hypotension after spinal anaesthesia in parturient undergoing elective LSCS.
Methods: A hospital based prospective, randomized, double blinded study was done in 90 patients aged between 20 and 40 years of American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade II undergoing elective Lower Segment Caesarean Section under spinal anaesthesia. Group I - parturient with PI of ≤3.5: 45 cases Group II- parturient with PI of >3.5: 45 cases.
Results: In Group I, 25 out of 45 patients developed hypotension and in Group II, 37 out of 45 patients developed hypotension. There was significant statistical difference between two groups in terms of incidence of hypotension as their p value (p = 0.05) was equal to 0.05.
Conclusion: These findings showed that in our study perfusion index cut-off of 3.5 was able to predict hypotension in parturient undergoing elective caesarean section.