Spinal Versus General Anesthesia for Spine Surgery During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Series

Hospitals are one of the primary resources for disease transmission, so many guidelines were published, and neurosurgeons were advised to postpone elective spine surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To avoid pulmonary complications and reduce the risk of spreading the virus and contracting the disease during the COVID-19 era, we operated a group of our patients under spinal anesthesia rather than general anesthesia.

We retrospectively analyzed all patients who underwent discectomy surgery for lumbar spinal disc herniation under SA between September 2020 and 2021.

Sixty-four patients diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation underwent lumbar discectomy with SA. All patients except three were male. The mean age was 44.52 ± 7.95 years (28 to 64 years). The mean procedure time for SA was 10 minutes. The duration of the surgery was 40 to 90 minutes per each level of disc herniation. The mean blood loss was 350 cc (200 to 600 cc). The most common involved level was L4/L5 intervertebral disc (n = 40 patients; 63.5%). The mean recovery time was 20 minutes. Only three patients requested more analgesics for relief of their pain postoperatively. All patients with discectomy were discharged a day after surgery, and in the case of fusion, two days after surgery. All the patients were followed up for six months, showing no recurrence symptoms, good pain relief, satisfaction with the surgery, and no bad memory of the surgery.

Spinal anesthesia is a good alternative or even the main anesthesia route for patients with lumbar disc herniation. More studies are needed to elucidate the best candidate for SA in patients with lumbar pathology.