Anesthetic technique and surgical convalescence

This brief review presents an update of studies on postoperative fatigue and convalescence and the way in which they are affected by anesthetic technique. Development of postoperative fatigue is related to the degree of surgical trauma, but not to general anesthesia, and it cannot be predicted from age, sex, duration of surgery, or preoperative assessment of various nutritional parameters. Postoperative fatigue correlates with deterioration in nutritional status and impaired adaptability of heart rate to orthostatic stress and bicycle exercise. Decreases in muscle performance and endurance are associated with postoperative fatigue, but psychological factors such as preoperative degree of anxiety do not appear to be important factors. Pain relief with regional anesthetics does not improve postoperative fatigue after abdominal surgery; however, no studies are available that evaluate the effects of regional analgesia with concomitant inhibition of the stress response. Controlled studies suggest that the use of regional anesthesia with local anesthetics reduces duration of hospitalization and time to ambulation. Further studies are needed to define the relative roles of immobilization, impaired nutritional intake, and surgical stress response in the pathogenesis of postoperative fatigue.