Efficiency of Spinal Anesthesia versus General Anesthesia for Minimal Invasive Single Level Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion: A Retrospective Analysis of 178 Patients

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of spinal anesthesia in patients undergoing minimal invasive single level transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS TLIF) surgery and to compare the re-sults with that of general anesthesia. Method: 178 patients were included in the study, 86 were in general anesthesia and 92 were in spinal anesthesia. Patients aged between 20 to 70 years who had undergone MIS TLIF not responding to 6 weeks of conservative treatment were included. The routine steps of anesthesia for both general and spinal anesthesia were adhered. The visual analogue scale, blood loss, duration of surgery, time from entering operation theatre to time of incision, time of bandaging to exit from operation theatre, time of stay in Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), nausea/vomiting, urinary retention, duration of stay in hospital, peri-operative complications were compiled and assessed. Appropriate statistical analysis was applied. Results: The mean time for entering the operation theatre to the incision; mean time from ban-daging to the exit; mean PACU time and the mean hospital stay were significantly lower in the spinal anesthesia group (p<0.05). The other parameters are comparable except, urinary retention which was significantly higher in spinal anesthesia group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Spinal anesthesia offers efficient operating room functioning with decreasing overall operation theatre time. It is very efficient alternative technique to general anesthesia which can be considered for elective lumbar surgeries with a lower late of adverse events especially at lower lumbar levels.