[Anesthesia adjacent to the spine in vascular surgery in high-risk patients]

From 1978 to 1982, 515 patients underwent vascular surgery with 230 operations performed under epidural analgesia and 330 operations under spinal anaesthesia. In the case of vascular surgery on the lower limbs epidural analgesia was effective in 168 patients (97.1%) and ineffective in five (2.9%), spinal anaesthesia was effective in 312 patients (98.7%) and ineffective in four (1.3%). Epidural analgesia was effective for vascular surgery on the lower abdomen in 40 patients (70.2%), and inadequate in 17 patients (29.8%), whilst spinal anaesthesia was adequate in 9 patients (64%) and inadequate in 5 patients (36%). Nevertheless, lumbar spinal and epidural analgesia may be the method of choice in high-risk patients undergoing vascular surgery, especially on the lower limbs.