Direct vascular effect of ropivacaine in femoral artery and vein of the dog.

A study was conducted to examine the direct vascular effect of ropivacaine, in comparison with the effect of bupivacaine and lidocaine. Changes in tension induced by ropivacaine (10(-5)-3 x 10(-3) mol l-1) and lidocaine (10(-5)-10(-2) mol l-1) were examined cumulatively in vascular rings of dog femoral artery and vein under basal tension, or in those which had been precontracted with phenylephrine submaximally in Krebs' bicarbonate solution at 37 degrees C aerated with 95% O2 and 5% CO2 (pH 7.4). The change in tension induced by 10(-2) mol l-1 ropivacaine was tested under basal tension in vascular rings bathed in HEPES buffer (pH 6.8). Ropivacaine induced greater constriction than bupivacaine at concentrations over 10(-3) mol l-1 in vascular rings under basal tension (P < 0.01). The maximal contraction was induced by ropivacaine at 10(-3) mol l-1, averaging 51.5 +/- 2.8% (n = 11) and 27.0 +/- 3.7% (n = 12) of the maximal contraction induced by epinephrine in the artery and vein, respectively, and the contractions induced by ropivacaine at 10(-2) mol l-1 were 16.3 +/- 2.0% (n = 11) and 5.5 +/- 1.1% (n = 9), respectively. Phenylephrine (10(-6) mol l-1)-precontracted artery was contracted significantly by ropivacaine at 3 x 10(-4) mol l-1 and 10(-3) mol l-1, and by bupivacaine at 3 x 10(-4) mol l-1, whereas the phenylephrine (10(-6) mol l-1)-precontracted vein was relaxed by these anesthetics. Lidocaine did not exert constricting effects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)