Abstract:
Background and objective: Knee arthroscopy is the most common ambulatory orthopaedic procedure performed and there are few randomized studies comparing local anaesthesia and regional anaesthesia. The purpose of the study was to compare operating condition, recovery time, side effects of local anaesthesia combined with propofol infusion (LA/Propofol) with spinal anaesthesia (SA). Methodology: Fifty ASA status I - II patients, between 18-50 years of age, scheduled for knee arthroscopy received either low dose bupivacaine spinal anaesthesia or intraarticular lignocaine combined with propofol infusion titrated to patient comfort randomly. An independent observer collected data. Results: 24 patients (average age, 30 years) received LA/Propofol and 26 received SA. Baseline assessment of the two groups was similar. The mean time spent in the postoperative anaesthesia care unit (PACU) was 60.00 ± 14.89 minutes for the LAP group and 122.11 ± 19.55 minutes for the SA group (P = .0001). There were no statistically significant differences between the 2 groups with respect to nausea/vomiting (P =.5) or overall patient satisfaction (P = .3). The amount of time required to administer anaesthesia was similar between the two groups (14.23 ± 4.4 and 15.00 ± 5.89 min).The number of patients requiring airway support intraoperatively was higher in the LA/ Propofol group compared with the SA group, 4 of 24 and 0 of 26, respectively (P =.02). Conclusions: Although subjects receiving LA/Propofol were more likely to require some airway support intraoperatively compared with the SA group, LA/Propofol was associated with significantly less time to home readiness as measured by time in the PACU and comparable operating condition as well as patient satisfaction.
Page(s):
24-30
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Anaesthesia, Pain and Intensive Care, Volume: 16, Issue: 1, Year: 2012