Changes in vegetative regulation at stages of pre-operative preparation and after tracheal intubation in patients with a general surgery profile

Abstract

A pilot study that traced the parameters of heart rate variability was performed in the initial preoperative examination of an anaesthesiologist, on the eve of surgery, after premedication, induction and intubation of the trachea in general surgical patients. The most stable early characteristic of preoperative stress is tachycardia (p = 0.0008). A typical response of the body to preoperative stress is also a decrease in the standard deviation of the sample of cardio interval durations (p = 0.003), and suppression of the total spectral power, mostly high-frequency components (p = 0.028). New scientific facts about the diagnostic significance of the rate of autocorrelation of the heart rhythm (p = 0.003) in assessing the autonomic response of the body to intubation of the trachea are obtained. The results of this preliminary study revealed regular reactions of the autonomic nervous system to preoperative stress in the form of activation of sympathetic tone, increased synchronization of regulatory processes, regular changes in the dynamics of peak powers of the heart rate spectrum.