Spinal anesthesia efficiency in thoracolumbar stabilizations

Abstract

Background and purpose – Spinal surgery has an important place in neurosurgery practice. Surgical procedures on the lumbar spine include stabilization, discectomy, foraminotomy and decompression. Lumbar and lower thoracic spinal surgery can be safely performed under spinal anesthesia (SA). However, there are not many studies on the safety and efficacy of spinal anesthesia in patients who have undergone long segment stabilization surgery. Methods – Patients who underwent lumbar and lower thoracic spinal instrumentation operations with general anesthesia (GA) or spinal anesthesia were included in the study. Demographic characteristics and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status of the patients were all recorded. Visual analog scale and quality of life scores were obtained before and after the operation. Results – 572 patients with SA and 598 patients with GA were included in the study, 352 / 347 had only-lumbar region and 220 / 251 had thoracolumbar region operations, respectively. All patients underwent short/long segment stabilization. Mean operating time was 106.1 / 156.7 minutes. Average blood loss was 375 / 390 mL. All patients were mobilized 16-24 / 24-36 hours after surgery. In our patient group, there were both high-risk and normal-risk subgroups in terms of ASA physical status. During the clinical follow-up, a statistically significant improvement was found for VAS and quality of life scores for both groups (p<0.05). Conclusions – Spinal anesthesia appears to be a very effective method in lumbar and thoracolumbar surgery. Along with careful patient selection, using this highly effective method provides a comfortable space for the surgeon.