Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Non-Intubated Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery
Published on: May 26, 2023
Does neuraxial anesthesia reduce intraoperative blood loss? A meta-analysis
Jeffrey M Richman1, Andrew J Rowlingson, David N Maine
1Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA. jrichma1@jhmi.edu
Study Objective:
To perform a meta-analysis of available randomized controlled trials to determine if neuraxial anesthesia would decrease blood loss, compared with general anesthesia.
Design:
Retrospective analysis.
Setting:
University medical center.
Measurements:
The National Library of Medicine's PubMed database was searched from the period of 1966 to December 10, 2003 for all abstracts containing words related to neuraxial anesthesia and general anesthesia. The search was limited to randomized controlled trials and the English language and yielded 667 articles.
Main Results:
A total of 66 articles met inclusion criteria and were used for the analysis. Overall, the use of spinal anesthesia resulted in significantly less estimated blood loss (EBL) (P < 0.0001), compared with epidural anesthesia (EA), which, in turn, resulted in significantly less EBL compared with general anesthesia (GA) or combined GA-EA (P < 0.0001). No significant difference between GA and GA-EA was noted when analysis was limited to studies directly comparing GA-EA and GA.
Conclusions:
Use of spinal anesthesia or EA is associated with a significant decrease in EBL when compared with that for GA or combined GA-EA.
Related Concept Videos
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Intravenous Regional Anesthesia
One of the advantages of...
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Epidural Anesthesia
Since epidural anesthetics can be infused through an epidural catheter, all types of drugs, including short-acting ones, can be administered. Chloroprocaine and lidocaine are examples of short and long-duration anesthetics, respectively. Bupivacaine...
Local Anesthetics: Pharmacokinetics
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Spinal Anesthesia
General Anesthesia: Overview
General anesthesia induces unconsciousness in the whole body, while the others target specific areas or sensations. It is administered to minimize adverse effects, maintain...
Aneurysm IV: Nursing Management
