The effects of the menstrual cycle on the hemodynamic response to laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation

Hormonal, physical, and psychological fluctuations occur during the menstrual cycle. Previous studies have shown that hormonal changes during the normal menstrual cycle affect anesthesia and analgesia. The limitation of previous studies are that they did not measure luteal hormone (LH), Follicular stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol, progesterone and cortisol levels. Our goal was to find more suitable conditions in menstrual periods for intubation of patient. American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I patients, 16 to 40 years, undergoing general anesthesia for elective surgery were enrolled in this study and conducted at Imam Khomeini Medical Center in 2013. The patients were assigned into two groups according to the phase of their menstrual cycle. Levels of sex hormones and hemodynamic variables were recorded for all the patients and statistical analysis performed. In 77 patients, 38 women were in the luteal phase (49.4%) and 39 women were in the follicular phase (50.6%). All tracheal intubations were successful on the first attempt with a mean duration of 2558±5.07 and 25.84±5.32 seconds in groups F and L, respectively (P=0.489). None of the patients were excluded for long tracheal intubation time. Systolic blood pressure after intubation in the follicular phase (138.4±20 mm Hg) was significantly higher vs. the luteal phase (127.7±18 mm Hg) (P<0.01), as well as the women’s heart rate after intubation in the luteal phase (90.7±12 beats per minute), was significantly higher than in the follicular phase (85.3±11 beats per minute) (P=0.05). Heart rate was higher in the luteal group than the follicular group thus the women’s heart rate after intubation in the luteal phase (90.7±12 bpm) was significantly greater than the follicular phase (85.3±11 bpm) (P=0.05). Reviewing and comparing the results show that elective surgeries are bet-ter to be done in the luteal phase because of stable hemodynamic conditions.