General Anesthesia Versus Local Anesthesia in Stereotactic Biopsies of Brain Lesions: A Prospective Randomized Study.
BACKGROUND
Stereotactic biopsy of brain lesions with unknown entities is a common neurosurgical procedure to obtain tumor tissue. Pathologists can then provide an exact diagnosis on which further therapy, such as resection, radiotherapy, or chemotherapy, can be based. These procedures can be performed under local or general anesthesia. In this prospective study, we aim to show whether stress levels are higher for patients who undergo stereotactic biopsy under local or general anesthesia.


METHODS
Between January 2013 and December 2014, we screened 157 patients. Of these, 43 were included and evaluated in this study. Twenty-one patients gave their written consent and were randomized for either local or general anesthesia. A Post Traumatic Stress Score (PTSS) questionnaire was filled out by the patients preoperatively and postoperatively. Also, patients who did not agree to randomization had an opportunity to fill out the PTSS questionnaire. Twenty-two patients agreed only to fill out the stress-level questionnaire but refused randomization. These patients were evaluated as a subgroup. Scores achieved in the PTSS were compared by using the Fisher exact test.


RESULTS
Among the randomized patients, 9 underwent the procedure under local anesthesia and 12 under general anesthesia. Median PTSS was 24 preoperatively in the patients who received local anesthesia versus 20 among the patients with general anesthesia (P = 0.37; Fisher exact test). Postoperatively, PTSS was 29.5 in median for patients with local anesthesia versus 23 for patients with general anesthesia (P = 0.30; Fisher exact test). Postoperatively, the PTSS showed a median increase of 5.5 points in the LA and 3 points in the GA group (P = 0.87; Fisher exact test). P values of 0.05 and lower were considered statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
The willingness of patients to undergo randomization in this setting was low (13.3%). Within this highly selective group of patients, there was no significant difference for stress levels in patients who underwent stereotactic biopsy under local anesthesia versus general anesthesia. However, median values indicate a trend for higher stress-level values for patients undergoing local anesthesia.
Department of Neurosurgery, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany. Electronic address: johanna.quick@gmx.de.
Johanna
J
Quick-Weller
Department of Neurosurgery, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Juergen
J
Konczalla
Department of Neurosurgery, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Stephan
S
Duetzmann
Department of Anaesthesiology, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Claudia
C
Franz-Jaeger
Department of Anaesthesiology, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Ulrich
U
Strouhal
Department of Neurosurgery, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Nina
N
Brawanski
Department of Neurosurgery, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Matthias
M
Setzer
Institute of Neuroradiology, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Stephanie
S
Lescher
Department of Neurosurgery, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Volker
V
Seifert
Department of Neurosurgery, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Gerhard
G
Marquardt
Department of Neurosurgery, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany; Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Lutz M
LM
Weise
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000379:methods*; D000772:Anesthesia, Local / Q000379:methods*; D001706:Biopsy / Q000379:methods*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015898:Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed
General anesthesia; Local anesthesia; PTSS questionnaire; Stereotactic biopsy; Stress level