• M Zaballos, S López-Álvarez, J Zaballos-Bustingorri, F Rebollo-Laserna, J C de la Pinta-García, E Monzó-Abad, and GREETA: Grupo de trabajo de estudios epidemiológicos de las técnicas anestésicas en España.
• Departamento de Anestesia, Hospital Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Profesor asociado, Departamento de Toxicología y Legislación Sanitaria, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, España.
• Rev Esp Anestesiol Reanim. 2012 Jan 1; 59 (1): 18-24.

ObjectiveDespite renewed interest in the management of anaesthesia during inguinal hernia surgery, there is a lack of data on trends in anaesthesia in Spain. The purpose of this study was to analyse the different anaesthetic techniques used in inguinal hernia surgery and their association with recovery, hospital stay, complications, and satisfaction with the technique.Patients And MethodsOurs was a multicentre, descriptive, cross-sectional epidemiological study performed at 20 Spanish hospitals. Each centre included 12 patients who underwent elective inguinal hernia repair. Data were collected on patient characteristics, clinical history, anaesthetic technique, post-operative recovery, and complications.ResultsData were collected on 238 patients, most of whom (91%) were ASA I or II, with a mean age of 57 years (25-84). Day surgery was performed in 47% of cases; 26% as one-day surgery, and the rest as inpatient surgery. Spinal anaesthesia was the most widely used technique (60%), followed by general anaesthesia (27%), and local anaesthesia with sedation (13%) (pP<.0001). Discharge was within 6 hours with general anaesthesia and local anaesthesia in 94% and 100% of cases, respectively, compared with 68% for spinal anaesthesia (001). No differences were observed between anaesthetic techniques in terms of adverse effects, except for urinary retention in 10 male patients (mean age 68 years) all of whom had received spinal anaesthesia.ConclusionsSpinal anaesthesia is the most commonly used technique in Spain for inguinal hernia repair, although it is associated with a longer hospital stay (greater than 6h in 32% of cases) and a high incidence of urinary retention than other anaesthetic methods, in particular those with local infiltration. These techniques should be more vigorously implemented in daily practice.Copyright © 2012 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

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