© 1967 by European Society of Cardiology
Copyright © 1967, European Society of Cardiology
Intravenous Administration of Drugs for Obtaining Regional Adrenergic Block*


From the Department of Physiology, St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, London
Beit Memorial Research Fellow.
Colombo Plan Fellow. Present address: Department of Physiology, The Medical College, Kanpur 2, U.P., India.
Authors' Synopsis: A technique is described by which the sympathetic vasoconstrictor nerves of one region of a limb can be blocked without resort to an intra-arterial infusion or perineural injection. The drug is administered into a vein when the circulation to the limb is occluded and the limb contains as little blood as possible. Following the release of the circulation the block remains effective for at least 5 hr. Bethanidine and guanethidine have been used in this way in 8 subjects and the testing of the block produced is described.
* This work was supported by research grants from the British Heart Foundation to Professor A. D. M. Greenfield and from the Sir Halley Stewart Trust to P.H.F.