Spinal anesthesia versus combined sciatic nerve/lumbar plexus nerve block in elderly patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty: a retrospective study.

Background: The most important cause of mortality due to long bone fractures in the elderly patients are femoral fractures that require total hip arthroplasty (THA). THA surgeries may cause severe postoperative pain, long hospital stays, a need for transfusion and mortality.

Objective: Compare outcomes of spinal anesthesia (SA) versus combined sciatic nerve/lumbar plexus block (CSLPB).

Design: Retrospective cohort trıal.

Setting: University hospital in Turkey.

Patients and methods: We selected patients from the electronic medical records by date of surgery (most recent first) and compared demographic and pre- and postoperative clinical characteristics including the amount of opioid use within the first 48 postoperative hours, 30-day mortality rates, length of hospital stay, intraoperative oxygen saturation (SpO₂) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) values, duration of the surgery, and blood transfusion need.

Main outcome measure: Opioid use within the first 48 postoperative hours.

Sample size: 204, 102 patients in each group with overall median (IQR) age of 82 (10.2) years.

Results: There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of the amount of opioid use within the postoperative 48 hours, 30-day mortality rates, intensive care need, duration of the surgery, blood transfusion need, and length of hospital stay. While the intraoperative SpO₂ value was lower in the CSLPB group (P=.03), MAP values were lower in the SA group (P=.046). Preoperative American Society of Anesthesiology score (ASA) scores (P=.039) and the number of comorbidities were higher in the CSLPB group.

Conclusion: We prefer CSLPB used with standardized sedation protocols for anesthesia in THA surgery in elderly patients.

Limitations: Retrospective design and single-centered.

Conflict of interest: None.