Comparative Analysis of Perioperative Outcome of Spinal Versus Epidural Anesthesia

Abstract

Anesthesia is essential to surgical operations. For lower limb, pelvic, and abdominal surgeries, spinal and epidural anesthesia are common approaches. Hemodynamic stability, total recovery, and patient satisfaction can all be strongly impacted by the anesthetic selection. Few studies, meanwhile, have directly compared the perioperative results of these two anesthetic methods. This study's main goal was to assess the effects of spinal and epidural anesthesia on pain management, hemodynamic stability, and patient satisfaction. Patients were split into two groups for the nine-month trial in Lahore: one group had a single-dose spinal anesthesia in the subarachnoid area, while the other group received epidural anesthesia through a catheter. Validated metrics such the Patient Satisfaction Score, Quality of Recovery Scale, and Numerical Rating Scale for Pain were used to gather data prior to, during, and following surgery. SPSS version 28.0 was used for statistical analysis, which included descriptive statistics and significance tests like ANOVA and t-tests. The results demonstrated that, in comparison to spinal anesthesia, epidural anesthesia produced noticeably less pain. Despite reporting greater satisfaction and a quicker recovery, patients under epidural anesthesia did not show statistically significant changes. While satisfaction and recovery levels were comparable for both sexes, gender analysis showed that men felt more pain than women. Furthermore, a moderate hospital stay (5-7 days) was linked to the highest satisfaction and recovery scores, while shorter and longer stays were linked to lower scores and higher pain levels. Epidural anesthesia was more effective in pain management than spinal anesthesia, though both techniques yielded comparable patient satisfaction and recovery outcomes. The findings suggest that anesthesia choice should be tailored to individual patient needs, with particular attention to pain management strategies.

Keywords:  Spinal Anesthesia, Epidural Anesthesia, Patient Satisfaction, Quality Of Recovery Pain.