Comparison of Complications of Epidural Anesthesia with General Anesthesia in Patients with Thoracolumbar Spine Surgery

Background and Aim: General anesthesia (GA) is commonly used for spine surgery but this operation can be performed under regional anesthesia. The advantages of regional anesthesia (RA), as compared to GA in regard to the optimum choice of anesthesia for spine surgery have been a matter of controversy. The aim of this study was to compare GA with RA in regard to the intraoperative events, incidence of postoperative complications, and the recovery time in the patients undergoing spine surgery. Material and Methods: This prospective comparative study included 80 patients in ASA 1 and 2 who had referred to Kwosar Hospital in Sanandaj for spinal and lower thoracic surgery. After random allocation of the patients into two equal groups, general anesthesia or epidural anesthesia was adminstered in the same manner to the patients of each group. Demographic characteristics, vital signs, the severity of pain, agitation, urinary retention, nausea, and vomiting, number of times needed to administer analgesics, the time of request for the first dose of analgesia, the time to start walking, and the time of discharge from the hospital were recorded in the patients׳ records. Using SPSS software version 23, data were analyzed by average statistical test, standard deviation, independent t-test, and chi-square test. Results: There was no significant differences between the two groups in terms of gender, age, and type of surgery (P >0.05). The severity scores of pain based on the VAS scale at 2, 4, and 6 hours after surgery in the GA group were higher than those in the epidural group (P