General anaesthesia or spinal anaesthesia for outpatient urological surgery.
OBJECTIVE
A variety of drugs and techniques have been introduced into ambulatory anaesthesia. The technique as well as the drugs used may hasten or delay home discharge. We compared recovery profiles and side-effects of spinal anaesthesia and total intravenous anaesthesia.


METHODS
Forty unpremedicated ASA I-II patients (18-65 yr) undergoing varicocele repair were randomly divided into two groups. Spinal anaesthesia (26-G atraumatic needle) with hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5% 5 mg and fentanyl 25 microg were given to patients in Group Spinal (n = 20). Patients in Group TIVA (n = 20) received total intravenous anaesthesia with propofol and remifentanil given by continuous infusion; a laryngeal mask was used to secure the airway. The duration of surgery, time to home readiness and side-effects were recorded.


RESULTS
The two groups were comparable with respect to patients' characteristics and duration of surgery. The times to achieve ambulation were similar between groups (Spinal = 78.4 +/- 40.9 min, TIVA = 75.9 +/- 13.8 min). Urinary voiding was a requirement for discharge after spinal anaesthesia and the time for home readiness was longer in Group Spinal (158.0 +/- 40.2 versus 94.9 +/- 18.8 min) (P < 0.05). Two patients reported pruritus and one reported postdural puncture headache in Group Spinal, whereas two patients reported nausea in Group TIVA. Patients in Group TIVA had a greater need for analgesia postoperation (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
In healthy unpremedicated men undergoing minor urological operations, total intravenous anaesthesia with remifentanil and propofol provided as safe and effective anaesthesia as spinal block with the advantage of earlier home readiness.
Erhan
E
E
Ege University, Department of Anaesthesiology and Reanimation, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey. elvanerhan@yahoo.com
Ugur
G
G
Anadolu
O
O
Saklayan
M
M
Ozyar
B
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000762:Anesthesia Recovery Period; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D000775:Anesthesia, Spinal; D019162:Anesthetics, Combined / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002045:Bupivacaine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005283:Fentanyl / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010880:Piperidines / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015742:Propofol / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000077208:Remifentanil; D013521:Urologic Surgical Procedures, Male / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014646:Varicocele / Q000601:surgery
D019162:Anesthetics, Combined; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D010880:Piperidines; D000077208:Remifentanil; D005283:Fentanyl; D002045:Bupivacaine; D015742:Propofol