Recovery time and patient satisfaction in ambulatory knee arthroscopy

The aim of this study was to compare recovery time and satisfaction of patients operated under two anaesthetic techniques. A randomised-controlled trial that enrolled ASA I–II patients submitted to ambulatory knee arthroscopy was designed. Patients included were randomly assigned to one of the three study groups: general intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA), spinal anaesthesia with lidocaine (LIDO), and spinal anaesthesia with prilocaine (PRILO). Spinal groups did not receive supplementary sedation. Major outcome measures considered were both the time to discharge from the post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) and from the day-case surgical unit (DSU), the incidence of adverse events, postoperative need for analgesics and patients satisfaction. One hundred and twenty patients were enrolled. Mean time from the patients comes into operating room to discharge from PACU was 125 ± 27 min for the PRILO group, 109 ± 24 min for the LIDO group and 106 ± 34 min for the TIVA group (P < 0.01). Time to discharge from the ASU was 279 ± 37 min for the PRILO group, 261 ± 53 min for the TIVA group and 241 ± 36 min for the LIDO group (P < 0.001). No significant differences were observed in the appearance of adverse events, the need for postoperative analgesics and the degree of patient satisfaction among the study groups. A shorter recuperation time was observed in the LIDO group, but more TIVA patients preferred to have the same anesthetic again. All three anaesthetic methods are useful for ambulatory knee arthroscopy.