Local versus general anesthesia for lumbar percutaneous discectomy

Ninety-two adult patients scheduled for automated percutaneous discectomy (PERC) were assigned to receive either local anesthesia supplemented with monitored i.v. analgesia (MIVA) or general endotracheal anesthesia (GA-LITE). Patients were examined 1 week post-PERC for the presence of new paresthesias, and they completed a questionnaire 6-18 weeks after PERC about changes in their pain. Sixty-four percent of MIVA patients and 83% of GA-LITE patients had diminished pain following PERC. Results did not show any difference between the two groups for new paresthesias after PERC. There were no differences in postoperative pain medication requirements, but the GA-LITE group reported more postoperative nausea, vomiting, and sore throat. GA-LITE patients averaged 1.06 +/- 0.3 h in the recovery room compared with 0.70 +/- 0.3 h for MIVA patients. Although the use of general anesthesia for PERC has been contraindicated because of fear of damaging the nerve root in the sleeping patient, we conclude that general anesthesia does not increase nerve injuries attributable to instrumentation. However, general anesthesia did cause a higher incidence of minor complications such as nausea, vomiting, and sore throat in the immediate postoperative period than did MIVA.