Peripheral arterial catheters measure blood pressure with every heartbeat and provide valuable information regarding the status of the heart and the overall well being. It is of utmost importance to maintain the utility and patency of these catheters throughout the procedure. As standard procedure, heparin, a blood thinner, is used routinely during the surgical procedure to keep these catheters from clotting, and papaverine, an arterial relaxation agent, is used after surgery to maintain patency of these catheters.
In this study, participants will be randomized to receive two boluses of papaverine with heparin during the procedure (experimental arm) or heparin alone during the procedure (control arm) \[in both arms, the first bolus will be administered as soon as the arterial catheter is placed and secured and again one hour after initial bolus\]. If the arterial catheter spasm/patency or waveform does not improve 10 minutes after the second bolus, then the anesthesiology care team will consider treating clinically with 0.3 mg of papaverine.
