Types of anesthesia and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with congestive heart failure undergoing vascular surgery

BACKGROUND. Whether regional anesthesia is preferable to general anesthesia for patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) undergoing noncardiac surgery remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine whether anesthetic technique affects postoperative cardiac outcome in patients with CHF; we hypothesized that cardiac outcomes would be superior with regional anesthesia compared with general anesthesia. DESIGN. 106 patients with prior or persistent CHF, undergoing femoral to distal artery bypass surgery, were randomized to general anesthesia (29 patients) or regional anesthesia (epidural, 42 patients, or spinal anesthesia, 35 patients). The primary end point was death or adverse cardiac events (myocardial infarction, unstable angina, or CHF). RESULTS. There was no statistically significant difference between groups in incidence of combined cardiac events, death, myocardial infarction, death or myocardial infarction combined, unstable angina, or CHF. CONCLUSION. Although larger studies are required to establish equivalence of the anesthetic strategies, this large single center study preliminarily indicates that regional anesthesia may not be superior to general anesthesia in patients with heart failure undergoing femoral to distal artery bypass surgery. (c)1999 by CHF, Inc.