English

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Inguinal herniorraphy is commonly performed on an outpatient basis under nerve blocks, local, spinal or general anesthesia (GA). We have selected inguinal herniorraphy under general anesthesia and spinal anesthesia (SA). OBJECTIVE: To compare the recovery time, postoperative pain and patient satisfaction in the Post Anesthetic Care Unit (PACU). METHODS: A prospective, single blinded, controlled study involved total 60 patients belonging to American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I/II scheduled for elective repair of unilateral inguinal hernia. Randomization was done using computer generated random numbers. GA group received intravenous (IV) propofol (2mg/kg), butorphanol (40µg/kg) and skeletal muscle relaxation was achieved with vecuronium bromide (0.1 mg/kg). Patient was maintained with nitrous oxide and oxygen (66:33) and sevoflurane. SA group received 2ml of 0.5% of hyperbaric bupivacaine intrathecal in lateral decubitus position with 0.04mg/kg midazolam injection IV for sedation. Modified Aldrete scoring system, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and modified Bromage score were employed to assess recovery time. When pain score was more than 5, rescue analgesia was given with IV injection ketorolac 30mg. All data were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: Patients in GA group (136.23 ±17.82 minutes) showed a statistically significant (p< 0.05) recovery time to get shifted from PACU compared with patients in the SA group (176.00 ± 11.92 minutes). But patients in the SA group had significantly less VAS score pain (1.30±1.76 vs. 3.23±2.88), less number of patient received rescue analgesia (16.7% vs. 50%) and satisfaction was higher than GA group. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that GA group resulted in faster recovery time from PACU but SA group had less post- operative pain and better satisfied.