Changes Between Levels Of Temperature Elevation And Sensory Analgesic In Patients With Epidural Anesthesia

Objective to observe the change between levels of temperature elevation and sensory analgesic in patients with epidural anesthesia ,to explore the clinical use of skin temperature elevation. Methods The 40 patients, which epidural catheter was inserted at the L2-L3 interspace, were randomly assigned to epidurally injectal water (control group n=10) or 2 percent lidocaine (experiment group n=30). The changes in the skin temperature in T4,T5,T6,T7,T8,T9,T10,T11,T12,L5were observed at the time intervals before epidural injection,5,10,15,20,25 and 30min after epidural injection,meanwhile ,the levels of sensory analgesic to pinprick were measured.Results In the experiment, the uppermost level of temperature elevation was cephalad to the upper limit of sensory analgesic to pinprick. The mean temperature-sensory analgesic differential levels were 2.5±0.6,2.8±0.7,2.3±0.5,2.4±0.5,2.4±0.5,2.4±0.5 at the time 5,10,15,20,25and 30min after epidural injection, respectively. In the experiment group ,the net increases in skin temperature at the T6,T7,T8,T9,T10,T11,T12 and L5 were higher than those observed in the same regions of the control group (p<0.01).Conclusions The skin temperature is elevated in segments with epidural anesthesia, the levels of the skin temperature of the trunk are higher 2-3 segments than the levels of sensory analgesic to pinprink.we think that we can obtain the level of sensory analgesic to pinprink in patient with epidural anesthesia indirectly through measuring the level of skin temperature elevation of trunk. So it can avoid the pain of pinprink and enlarge indications.