BACKGROUND: The microcirculation is responsible for distribution of blood within tissues, delivery of oxygen and other nutrients, and regulation of blood pressure. The objective of this study was to compare the sublingual microcirculation of pregnant participants to that of comparable non-pregnant volunteers. METHODS: Two groups of participants were recruited: a group of pregnant, non-laboring women with singleton pregnancies at term gestation and a control group of age-comparable non-pregnant volunteers. A sidestream dark field imaging device was applied to the sublingual mucosal surface obtaining a steady image for at least 20 s duration, in five visual fields. The resultant five video clips per participant were analyzed blindly and at random to prevent coupling between images. The mean microvascular flow index values for each group were compared using a paired t-test. RESULTS: Thirty-seven participants were recruited (19 pregnant, 18 non-pregnant); a single pregnant participant was withdrawn because of technical issues. Baseline characteristics were similar with the exception of weight and body mass index. The mean microvascular flow index was significantly higher in the pregnant group 2.7 ± 0.2 compared to the non-pregnant group 2.5 ± 0.3 (P = 0.021), while the perfused vessel density and proportion of perfused vessels were not significantly different (P = 0.707 and 0.403, respectively). CONCLUSION: The microvascular flow index of pregnant women is higher than a comparable non-pregnant group, which appears to correlate with the physiological changes of pregnancy.

Department of Anesthesiology Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine Dalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada

Department of Anesthesiology Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine Dalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada; Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine Charles University Prague Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove University Hospital Hradec Kralove Czech Republic

Department of Anesthesiology Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine Dalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada; Department of Pharmacology Dalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada; Department of Microbiology and Immunology Dalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada

Department of Women's and Obstetric Anesthesia IWK Health Centre Halifax Nova Scotia Canada; Department of Anesthesiology Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine Dalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada

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Possible Impact of Spinal Anesthesia and Phenylephrine on Sublingual Microcirculation of Cesarean Delivery Patients