nothing very deviant in using dopamine drip. the major alteration produced by spinal is vasodilation and vasoconstrictor is the obvious and ideal choice to minimise the alteration. in fact i used it for a caesarean case suffering from phaechromocytoma with very gratifying results. giving ephedrine is ok but its action is shortlived and so repeated doses may be necessary. giving fluids is an inferior way of treating a vasodilated circulation which is a leaky one. giving colloids makes a little more sense.