Spinal Anesthesia for Total Joint Replacement

Abstract

Abstract: Total Joint arthroplasty is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures in the developed world with millions of total hip and total knee replacements taking place each year.¹ It has long been debated whether general anesthesia or neuraxial anesthesia is the best choice for lower limb total joint arthroplasty. The purpose of this scientific poster is to explore and discuss the potential benefits of using spinal anesthesia rather than general anesthesia for total knee arthroplasty or total hip arthroplasty. A database search utilizing Embase, Medline complete, and PubMed was completed to obtain information for the poster. After data and resources were reviewed, several benefits were discovered related to the use of spinal anesthesia for total joint arthroplasty. Benefits included lower 30-day mortality rates, decreased odds for all-cause mortality and fewer complications in most cases, lower 90-day complication rate, decreased post-operative nausea and vomiting, and decreased medical costs.^1-6 According to the literature, a systematic review and meta-analysis, and a multinational expert group neuraxial anesthesia is the preferred anesthetic technique due to its reduction of most (but not all) complications.¹ Spinal anesthesia is the preferred method of anesthesia for total knee and total hip arthroplasty given the positive associated postoperative outcome benefits.¹