Regional Anesthesia Vs General Anesthesia In Patients With Covid-19: The Effect On Critical Care Admission, Mortality Rates And Pulmonary Complications

Objectives The appropriate anesthesia method in patients requiring surgical treatment with confirmed or suspected new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is unclear. This study aimed to compare regional anesthesia (RA) with general anesthesia (GA) in patients with COVID-19 infection in terms of admission to intensive care unit (ICU), rate of pulmonary complications, and mortality. Materials and Methods We reviewed medical records between March 2020 and December 2021 added patients with COVID-19 that operated under RA or GA in the study. The patients were assigned into two groups: 1. patients operated under RA and 2. patients operated under GA. Primary outcomes were admission rates to the ICU, acute pulmonary, renal, and hepatic complications, and perioperative mortality rates. Results We included 123 patients in the study. Regional anesthesia was significantly higher in the cohort. 97 (78.9 %) patients were operated under RA and 26 (21.1 %) patients under GA. The admission rate to ICU was 8.2 %in the RA group and 11.5 %in the GA group. The difference was not significant (p=0.422). Pulmonary complications were seen in 6 (6.2 %) patients in the RA group and 2 (7.7 %) patients in the GA group without a significant difference (p=0.535). Perioperative mortality rates were comparable between groups (5.2 %in the RA group vs. 7.7 %in the GA group) (p=0.535). Conclusion Pulmonary complications, ICU admission, and perioperative mortality rates were lower in COVID-19 patients operated under regional anesthesia; however, the differences were not significant.