[General anesthesia or spinal anesthesia for hip prosthesis replacement? Studies of acceptance of both procedures by...

Patients undergoing total hip replacement are given general anaesthesia or spinal anaesthesia. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of patients before, during and after general anaesthesia (68 patients) or spinal anaesthesia (77 patients). Our investigation revealed that with regard to complications (nausea and vomiting, headache and back pains), no differences between the two methods occurred. Between 25 and 30% of the patients in both groups had these complications, although there were differences between both groups regarding their concomitant diseases and medication. Patients with spinal anaesthesia had a three times higher incidence of cardiac concomitant diseases and received corresponding drugs more frequently. We found that the time of postoperative analgesia after spinal anaesthesia (210 minutes) was significantly longer than after general anaesthesia (90 minutes). The majority of the patients in both groups (approximately 90%) were satisfied with the chosen method of anaesthesia and with the postoperative pain therapy. These findings make it possible to conclude that with the exception of differences in the postoperative analgesia time, there are no differences between general anaesthesia and spinal anaesthesia regarding complications and satisfaction of the patients with both methods of anaesthesia.