Efficacy of a combination of regional methods of anesthesia with general anesthesia in corneal transplantation

Abstract

Background. Despite the significant development of modern anesthesiology, the pain relief of surgical patients is still unsatisfactory. Inadequate pain management causes psychological discomfort and complications. The combination of general anesthesia with various options for local anesthesia allows one to get closer to solving the problem of pain. The aim of the study was to compare the effect of multicomponent balanced anesthesia (intravenous + inhalation) and multicomponent balanced anesthesia, supplemented by pterygopalatine fossa blockade on the safety and efficacy of anesthesia for corneal transplantation. Materials and methods. The study included 73 patients, divided into two groups. Group С received multicomponent balanced anesthesia, group B — pterygopalatine fossa blockade additionally. The main criteria for evaluating the results of the study were: stability of hemodynamics and gas exchange during surgery, the severity of intraoperative pain syndrome by recording the analgesia nociception index, the severity of postoperative pain syndrome and the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Results. Both schemes of anesthetic management made it possible to avoid pronounced fluctuations in hemodynamic and gas exchange parameters at all stages of the study. Analyzing the severity of intraoperative pain, we found that in group С, pain relief could be considered insufficient during the first 7 minutes of the most traumatic stage of the operation, while in group B the analgesia nociception index did not decrease below 50. Statistically significant differences were obtained during 8 out of 10 minutes of the stage. Analysis of the pain relief quality in the postoperative period has shown that the level of pain according to the visual analogue scale upon awakening was equal to 0 in both groups, at the next three stages of the study (two and six hours after surgery and on the morning of the next day) the level pain in group C was significantly higher than in group B. Conclusions. The addition of regional blockade to multicomponent general anesthesia allows for adequate control of postoperative pain without compromising the safety profile.