Spinal versus general anesthesia for laparoscopic cholecystectomy: A comparative study of cost effectiveness and side effects

Abstract

Objectives: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) has become a well developed surgical procedure. Currently LC is performed under general anaesthesia. As with any day case procedure, LC requires an anesthetic technique which provides rapid recovery and fewer side effects. Meanwhile beside patient’s satisfaction, cost effectiveness is an important measure of quality of care. We designed a controlled, randomized trial in order to compare spinal anesthesia with general anesthesia for elective LC in reference to recovery times, hospital stay and costs of anesthesia at our setting.

Methodology: Fifty ASA I-II patients undergoing elective LC, were divided into two groups (25 patients each); spinal anesthesia group (SA) and general anesthesia group (GA). Standardized techniques of anesthesia were employed in both groups. VAS score was used for pain assessment postoperatively. The dose of analgesic required as well as the length of hospital stay was also recorded. The cost of each anesthetic technique was calculated. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 13.