Central Venous Pressure Monitoring During Routine Spinal Anesthesia

CENTRAL venous pressure monitoring has in recent years received attention as a guide in determining the relationship between venous return and ventricular output, that is, as an indicator of myocardial competence.1Subject to careful interpretation in dynamic situations, this type of monitoring provides information that enables the judicious physician to apply proper therapy to his patient's fluid losses, as well as to problems with a cardiogenic origin.2Although central venous pressure monitoring is not the sole source of such information, it has become an adjunct that is highly recommended for surgical and medical patients with problems of hypotension, hypovolemia, circulatory failure, and massive fluid replacement need. The recent introduction of a new device that makes insertion of the central venous catheter very easy3has led us to extend this form of monitoring into situations not previously investigated extensively, especially to more routine surgical procedures performed on conscious