The effect of oral clonidine premedication on lumbar cerebrospinal fluid pressure in humans.

Alpha-2 adrenergic agonists including clonidine decrease cerebral blood flow. The specific actions of clonidine on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure in humans remain to be elucidated. We evaluated the effect of oral clonidine premedication on lumbar CSF pressure in patients without intracranial disease. Seventy-four patients undergoing subarachnoidal block were divided randomly into either a clonidine or a control group. In the clonidine group, the patients were premedicated orally with 5 microg/kg clonidine 60 min before arrival in the operating room. Subarachnoidal puncture was performed via midline approach using a 23-gauge needle at the L2-3 or L3-4 intervertebral space with the patient in the lateral decubitus position. Before the injection of local anesthetic, lumbar CSF pressure was measured. Lumbar CSF pressure was 8.1+/-2.4 mmHg in the clonidine group, which was significantly lower than that in the control group (9.4+/-2.8 mmHg, p<0.05). The cerebral perfusion pressures were 76.2+/-12.5 mmHg in the clonidine group and 91.7+/- 15.4 mmHg in the control group (p<0.001). In the clonidine group, preanesthetic mean blood pressure had a significant correlation with lumbar CSF pressure (r=0.619, p=0.019). We conclude that Lumbar CSF pressure was attenuated by oral premedication with 5 microg/kg clonidine. Clonidine also contributed to a significant correlation between preanesthetic mean blood pressure and CSF pressure.