[Prosthetic inguinal hernioplastics in day surgery. Which type of anesthesia? Our experience on 328 patients]

The aim of this paper is to compare local, spinal and general anesthesia with the tolerance of the patients as to pain and quality of life in the immediate postoperative period, and in the first week after the operation of prosthetic inguinal hernioplastics.

Three hundred and fifty eight patients underwent inguinal hernioplastes in day surgery regimen. The patients were divided into three groups according to the type of anesthesia and with the help of a schedule given to them. The parameters of the immediate postoperative period, such as pain nausea, vomit, cephalalgia, diuresis and the parameters in the following seven days after the operation, such as mobility, activity, pain, dejection and analgesic therapy, were compared.

Collected data put into evidence a significative value, the mean pain value in the postoperative period, calculated on a numeric scale comprising numbers from 1 to 10. In patients who underwent a surgical procedure after a local anesthesia the mean pain value was 3.1. Comparison of postoperative symptoms highlights an asymptomatic condition in local or spinal anesthesia operated patients. Local anesthesia is generally more painful in the perioperative stage. Local anesthesia operated patients lament a longer duration of pain, in days, in the postoperative period and a longer administration of analgesics. No significance difference between mobility and quality of life has been noticed.

The results of our study demonstrate that the comparison among the three types of anesthesia operated in day surgery is well balanced, as it was clearly expressed by the patients of each group. Every group was satisfied with its own anesthesia protocol.