Effect of awake Carotid Endarterectomy under local anaesthesia on peri-operative blood pressure: blood pressure is normalised when carotid stenosis is treated under local anaesthesia

Summary  Background. Carotid Endarterectomy can be performed under local, regional or general anaesthesia. One of the most important effects of the type of anaesthetic used is on the systemic blood pressure. Although variations in blood pressure during and following carotid endarterectomy have been studied previously, the effects of awake carotid endarterectomy under local anaesthesia on blood pressure and its comparison with similar procedures under similar types of anaesthesia have not.Methods. Peri-operative blood pressure measurements were collected from the records of 25 consecutive patients for each of the following five procedures; Carotid Endarterectomy under general anaesthesia (CEAGA), Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion under general anaesthesia (ACDF), Cerebral Angiography under local anaesthesia (ANG), Carotid Endarterectomy patients under local anaesthesia who were symptomatic (CEALAS) and Carotid Endarterectomy patients under local anaesthesia who were asymptomatic (CEALAA). The recordings were then analysed to find out if there were any clinically significant variations in peri-operative blood pressure.