Resumen

GONZALEZ O, MARÍA PATRICIA et al. General versus regional anesthesia for ambulatory arthroscopic knee surgery. CES Med. [online]. 2009, vol.23, n.1, pp.7-16. ISSN 0120-8705.

Background Arthroscopic surgical procedures on the knee are now frequently performed and there is still no agreement as to what is the best anesthesia technique for them. Any anesthetic technique used should bring fast and safe recovery, accompanied by good postoperative pain control and good patient satisfaction, all very important goals of ambulatory anesthesia. Objective: The goal of the study was to compare general versus regional anesthesia (sciatic, femoral and obturator nerve blocks) in terms of pain control, time to discharge and overall patient satisfaction among others. Methods: We conducted a randomized, non-blinded, clinical essay. The sample included all patients scheduled for arthroscopic knee surgery at Clinica CES that met inclusion criteria, during the period of time that the study was performed. Results: There were no significant differences in demographic characteristics, or intraoperative time between groups. Time spent in post anesthesia care unit was significantly lower in the group where regional anesthesia was used (15 vs. 78 minutes, p<0.05). Patients in the regional anesthesia group also did not require supplemental analgesia and were discharged earlier. In fact, all the patients in regional anesthesia group had VAS Pain Scores less than 3 one hour after surgery, while 56 % of the patients in the general anesthesia group had pain scores above 5 and required supplemental analgesia. There were higher incidence of postoperative nausea and vomit and greater anesthesia-related costs in general anesthesia group. Regional anesthesia patients were more satisfied with the anesthetic technique used than the general anesthesia ones. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that regional anesthesia for ambulatory arthroscopy knee surgery provides better postoperative analgesia, earlier discharge and better patient satisfaction than general anesthesia. Regional anesthesia also seems to facilitate early rehabilitation and could provide good care at lower cost.

Palabras clave : Arthroscopy; Nerve block; General anesthesia; Anesthesia recovery period; Patient satisfaction.

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