Objective:

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of bupivacaine and levobupivacaine, used to create epidural anaesthesia in inguinal hernia operations, on heart rate variability and cardiac arrhythmia parameters.

Methods:

Sixty male patients of the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) I-II group, scheduled to be operated on for inguinal hernia surgery with epidural anaesthesia, were randomly divided into two groups. The patients, with a 12-channel Holter recorder (Rozinn RZ153+12 -USA) attached 1 hour before the operation to record until the end of the surgery, were taken into the preparation room and anaesthetised. In group L (n=30), 17 mL of 0.5% levobupivacaine (Chirocain 0.5%-Abbot, El-verum, Norway) was given into the epidural space within 10 minutes, versus 17 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine in (Marcain 0.5%, Astra Zeneca, İstanbul, Turkey) group B (n=30). After 30 minutes, when there was enough block, the operation had been started. Holter recordings, starting 1 hour before the anaesthetic procedure and completed by the end of the operations, were transferred to the computer. The records were evaluated by the cardiologists.

Results:

When analysing the frequency effect measurement results of the heart rate variability, it was seen that neither of the medications created any statistically significant change in or among the groups in total, very-low-frequency (VLF), low-frequency (LF), high-frequency (HF) and LF/HF ratio levels. Only normalised low-frequency band was significantly lower in Group L (p=0.013).

Conclusion:

In the volumes and concentrations that were used in our study, levobupivacaine and bupivacaine created sensory blockade at the same level on average and did not reduce heart rate variability at the levels of these blockages.

Keywords: Anaesthesia, epidural, levobupivacaine, bupivacaine, arrhythmia