For patients undergoing elective lumbar spine surgery, single-shot, low-thoracic epidural anesthesia combined with general anesthesia provides better pain control than general anesthesia alone, according to a study in Spine.
Here are four things to know:
1. Researchers enrolled 22 patients scheduled for elective lumbar spine surgery into the study and randomly assigned them into two groups:
- Group B (block) received a single-shot epidural block with 0.25 percent bupivacaine plus four milligrams of morphine with a total volume of 10 milliliters before receiving general anesthesia with desflurane and cisatracurium.
- Group G (general) received general anesthesia with desflurane, cisatracurium and any systemic analgesia the attending anesthesiologist deemed appropriate.
2. Study authors compared postoperative pain score, opioid consumption, intraoperative blood loss, surgical field rating score and other side effects at the postanesthesia care unit and at 24 hours postoperatively.
3. Fentanyl consumption was significantly lower for group B at the PACU and 24 hours postoperatively. Average fentanyl consumption at the PACU was 20 micrograms for group B and 85 micrograms for group G. At 24 hours postoperatively, average fentanyl consumption was 80 micrograms for group B and 386 micrograms for group G.
4. Complications, surgical field rating score, pain measured with a numerical rating scale and blood loss were similar among both groups.