Intravenous dexmedetomidine for the treatment of shivering during Cesarean delivery under neuraxial anesthesia: a randomized-controlled trial.

Purpose: About 55% of patients undergoing a Cesarean delivery under spinal or epidural anesthesia will experience shivering, which may interfere with the monitoring of vital signs. Recent studies have shown that dexmedetomidine could potentially help to alleviate shivering associated with anesthesia. We investigated whether dexmedetomidine, an alpha 2-adrenergic agonist, reduces the duration of shivering associated with neuraxial anesthesia during Cesarean delivery.

The estimation of cardiac output by the Nexfin device is of poor reliability for tracking the effects of a fluid challenge.

Introduction: The Nexfin device estimates arterial pressure by the volume clamp method through a finger pneumatic cuff. It also allows to estimate cardiac index (CInoninv) by pulse contour analysis of the non-invasive arterial pressure curve. We evaluated the ability of the device to track changes in cardiac index induced by a fluid challenge.