[Combined spinal and epidural anesthesia for orthopaedic surgery in the elderly]

The pros and cons as to which anesthesia is more beneficial, either spinal or epidural, prompted us to perform combined spinal and epidural block in the elderly undergoing lower limb surgery. The selected epidural space was entered with a 17-gauge Tuohy needle and a longer 26-gauge spinal needle was passed through it and into the subarachnoid space. Following the injection of required dose of 2% preservative-free lidocaine (isobaric), spinal needle was withdrawn and an epidural catheter was inserted. We could use this combined technique on 17 patients older than 80 yr (mean age; 84.5 +/- 3.9 years) with satisfactory results and without any serious cardiovascular change, as with 17 middle-aged patients (57.5 +/- 5.2 years). This combination of techniques provides a rapid onset and reliability of spinal block with high quality analgesia by supplementation through the epidural catheter during and after surgery. In the orthopaedic procedures on the lower limbs, combined spinal and epidural block is more useful even for the elderly over the age of 80 yr than spinal or epidural anesthesia alone.