Turkish Neurosurgery 2015 , Vol 25 , Num 1
Epidural Anesthesia in Elective Lumbar Microdiscectomy Surgery: Is It Safe and Effective?
Akın AKAKIN1, Baran YILMAZ1, Alp AKAY2, Soner SAHIN3, Murat Sakir EKSI4, Deniz KONYA1
1Bahcesehir University, School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey
2Bahcesehir University, School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Istanbul, Turkey
3Kocaeli Derince Research and Teaching Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Kocaeli, Turkey
4University of California, San Francisco, Ortopedic Surgery-Spine Center, California, USA
DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.11549-14.0 AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate effectiveness and safety of epidural anesthesia in elective lumbar microdiscectomy surgery.

MATERIAL and METHODS: Twenty-seven patients (78%, female), who were admitted for single level simple microdiscectomy surgery between May 2012 and December 2013 in single spine center of a university hospital, were enrolled into the study. Clinical evaluations with demographical and per-operative data were collected prospectively.

RESULTS: Mean age was 60.04 years. Mean weight, height, and BMI of the study population were 77.7 kg, 160.22 cm, 30.26; respectively. Mean operation duration was 45.56 minutes. Mean VAS score for pain was 0.78 at immediate post-op, 0.52 at 4th hour, and 0.35 at post-operative 24th hour. Ramsay sedation scale (RSS) scores steadily decreased from 2.07 in the immediate post-operative time to 1.93 at 4th hour and 1.88 at 24th hour. The only correlation seen between patient demographics and RSS was body weight seen in immediate post-operative period. Improvements for VAS scores for pain at 4th and 24th hours were 28% and 31%; respectively. Three patients had nausea, one of them vomited after the surgery. All patients were satisfied and would consider epidural anesthesia in future similar surgeries.

CONCLUSION: Epidural anesthesia provides a safe and effective method for elective lumbar microdiscectomy surgery. Keywords : Regional anesthesia, Epidural anesthesia, Lumbar microdiscectomy, Neurosurgery

Corresponding author : Akın Akakın, drbaranylmz2013@gmail.com