Detailed comparison of regional and general anesthesia for carotid endarterectomy

Forty-one variables were examined in 75 patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy to determine if significant differences were present between 45 patients who had general anesthesia and 30 patients who had regional anesthesia. The two groups were similar in terms of age, existing medical illnesses, neurologic presentation, and angiographic severity of the carotid lesions. There were no differences between the two groups for operative time, anesthesia time, blood loss, maximum or minimum blood pressures, postoperative hemodynamic data, or the requirement for or duration of intravenous pressor or antihypertensive medications. One patient in the regional group had a postoperative neurologic deficit which resolved in 1 month. Three patients in the general group had cardiovascular complications. Postoperative hospital stay was significantly longer in the general anesthesia group (5.6 to 3.2 days, p = 0.003). Regional and general anesthesia produce similar perioperative hemodynamic and surgical outcomes, but regional anesthesia results in a shorter hospital stay and less cardiovascular morbidity in this high risk population.