• Anesthesiology · Aug 2004

    Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial

    Early but no long-term benefit of regional compared with general anesthesia for ambulatory hand surgery.

    • Colin J L McCartney, Richard Brull, Vincent W S Chan, Joel Katz, Sherif Abbas, Brent Graham, Hugo Nova, Regan Rawson, Dimitri J Anastakis, and Herbert von Schroeder.
    • Department of Anesthesia, Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. colin.mccartney@uhn.on.ca
    • Anesthesiology. 2004 Aug 1;101(2):461-7.

    BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to determine whether either regional anesthesia (RA) or general anesthesia (GA) provided the best analgesia with the fewest adverse effects up to 2 weeks after ambulatory hand surgery.MethodsPatients undergoing ambulatory hand surgery were randomly assigned to RA (axillary brachial plexus block; n = 50) or GA (n = 50). Before surgery, all patients rated their hand pain (visual analog scale) and pain-related disability (Pain-Disability Index). After surgery, eligibility for bypassing the postanesthesia care unit ("fast track") was determined, and pain, adverse effects, and home-readiness scores were measured. On postoperative days 1, 7, and 14, patients documented their pain, opioid consumption, adverse effects, Pain-Disability Index, and satisfaction.ResultsMore RA patients were fast-track eligible (P < 0.001), whereas duration of stay in the postanesthesia care unit was shorter in the RA group (P < 0.001). Time to first analgesic request was longer in the RA group (P < 0.001), and opioid consumption was reduced before discharge (P < 0.001). In the RA group, the pain ratings measured at 30, 60, 90, and 120 min after surgery were lower (P < 0.001), and patients spent less time in the hospital after surgery (P < 0.001). More GA patients experienced nausea/vomiting during recovery in the hospital (P < 0.05). However, on postoperative days 1, 7, and 14, there were no differences in pain, opioid consumption, adverse effects, Pain-Disability Index, or satisfaction.ConclusionsDespite significant reduction in pain before discharge from the hospital after ambulatory hand surgery, single-shot axillary brachial plexus block does not reduce pain at home on postoperative day 1 or up to 14 days after surgery when compared with GA. However, RA does provide other significant early benefits, including reduction in nausea and faster discharge from the hospital.

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