Effective and Economical Option of Anesthesia in Retrograde Intrarenal Surgery

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Anesthesiology

Background:

• Limited data exists on anesthesia's impact on retrograd intrarenal surgery (RIRS) success.
• RIRS is a common procedure for kidney stone removal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare spinal anesthesia versus general anesthesia for RIRS.
• Evaluate effectiveness, cost, hospitalization, and complications of RIRS under different anesthesia types.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 337 RIRS patients (2014-2019).
• Patients divided into spinal anesthesia (n=172) and general anesthesia (n=165) groups.
• Comparison of demographic data, stone characteristics, operative details, outcomes, and costs.

Main Results:

• General anesthesia was significantly more expensive than spinal anesthesia (p < 0.001).
• Postoperative analgesia use in the first six hours was significantly higher in the general anesthesia group (p < 0.001).
• No significant differences were found in effectiveness, hospitalization, or complications between groups.

Conclusions:

• RIRS can be safely and effectively performed under both spinal and general anesthesia.
• Spinal anesthesia offers advantages in reduced postoperative analgesic needs and lower costs.
• Spinal anesthesia is a potentially more advantageous anesthetic choice for RIRS.