Recently, epidural anesthesia for elective and emergency cesarean section is increasing in popularity and graudally replacing general anesthesia. However, the complications from the epidural anesthesia such as hypotension, dyspnea, nausea and vomiting have often been reported. This study was designed to estimate the efficacy of crystalloid administration on blood pressure and heart rate change during epidural anesthesia in cesarean section.

Forty ASAI and II patients scheduled for cesarean section under epidural anesthesia were randomly allocated to receive either only maintained fluid administration(group I) or 15 ml/kg crystalloid solution over 15 minutes(group II). Epidural anesthesia was performed in a lateral decubitus position. According to the patient's height, 20~23 ml of 2% lidocaine was injected through epidural catheter at the L3~4 interspace.

Cardiovascular responses and complications after induction of epidural anesthesia were compared and results were as follows. The incidence of hypotension was 14/20 (70%) in the groupI and 4/20(25%) in the group II(p<0.05). Systolic blood pressure after induction of epidural anesthesia in the group I significantly decreased from 6 min to 12 min as compared to the group II. The mean heart rate after induction of epidural anesthesia in the both group was no significant difference to baseline heart rate.

Considering above results, we conclude that a prophylactic crystalloid solution infusion is effective for minimizing and managing hypotension associated with epidural anesthesia in cesarean section.