Sleeping vs. awake patient: what enhances recovery for lower limb arthroplasty?

IntroductionEnhanced recovery programmes (ERP) have recently been adopted in the UK, enabling patients to recover quickly and return home sooner. Choice of anaesthetic is an important factor effecting post-operative outcome; studies show regional anaesthesia is more cost-effective, decreasing the incidence of venous thromboembolic events and reducing intra-operative blood loss, the need for transfusion and the length of hospital stay.ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to compare the short-term outcome of patients enrolled in our ERP who underwent either general or spinal +/− epidural anaesthesia.MethodsWe prospectively studied 1222 patients (age- and sex-matched) who underwent lower limb arthroplasty enrolled in our ERP between March 2010-December 2011. Patients were given the opportunity to discuss their preferred mode of anaesthesia with their anaesthetist. Group 1 underwent general anaesthesia (GA), Group 2 underwent spinal +/− epidural anaesthesia (SA+/−EA).Results1222 patients underwent lower ...