The Effect of Blood Pressure on Cerebral Perfusion During Vascular Surgery

Anesthesia reduces blood pressure and cerebral blood flow is normally considered to be maintained despite marked changes in blood pressure. Vascular surgical patients are often elderly, have high blood pressure and atherosclerosis and in these patients cerebral blood flow may decrease if blood pressure is reduced during anesthesia. The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of blood pressure for preservation of cerebral blood flow during anesthesia in vascular surgery. The hypothesis is that in vascular surgical patients, during anesthesia, cerebral blood flow is higher with blood pressure maintained at a higher level than that used in normal clinical practice.