• Branka Maldini, Mladen Miskulin, Stanko Antolić, Tanja Goranović, Katarina Sakić-Zdravcević, and Goran Gudelj.
• Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, General Hospital Sveti Duh, Zagreb, Croatia. branka.maldini@zg.t-com.hr
• Coll Antropol. 2010 Mar 1; 34 Suppl 1: 247-54.

AbstractThe aim of the study was to assess the efficacy, safety and complications of two anesthetic techniques including local and spinal anesthesia. A total of 436 patients received local (LA group = 250) or spinal (SA group = 186) anesthesia during a year period. SA group received 0.5% Bupivacaine 5 mg/mL. LA group received portal injection (5 mL lidocaine 2% with adrenaline) and intra-articular injection into the knee (10 mL lidocaine 2% with adrenaline). The following parameters were assessed: intraoperative pain (10 cm VAS: 0 = no pain, 10 = extreme pain), surgical operating conditions, patient satisfaction score (1 = very satisfied, 4 = very unsatisfied), postoperative analgesia, and time to discharge. In LA group, 97.6% (244/250) of patients experienced no pain throughout the procedure. Only six (2.4%) patients required conversion to general anesthesia. In SA group, two patients required conversion to general anesthesia. In both groups, 93.6% of patients were either satisfied or very satisfied with their anesthesia. The need ofpostoperative analgesics was higher in SA compared with LA group (p = 0.001). The mean postoperative stay was significantly shorter in LA than in SA group (p = 0.001). Ninety-four percent of LA and only 68% of SA patients were discharged from the hospital within 2 hours of the procedure. The rate of complications differed significantly between LA and SA groups (p = 0.037). Outpatient arthroscopy of the knee under local anesthesia is a simple, reliable, and safe alternative to spinal anesthesia, for patients in whom intraarticular disorders requiring diagnostic arthroscopy and arthroscopic surgery.

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