Predicting If the Blood Pressure Will Drop After Spinal Anesthesia Using Ultrasound of the Neck

Pulsed-wave Doppler acquisition of the carotid artery. One acquisition will be made with the slow-speed setting (33 mm/s) and one with the medium-speed setting (66 mm/s).

Measurement of noninvasive blood pressure, at different time points before and after the induction of spinal anesthesia.

Following the standard of care, the patients received spinal anesthesia. The type and dosage of the local anesthetic were at the discretion of the treating anesthesiologist.