Neuraxial Anesthesia Is Associated With Decreased Pain Scores And Post-Anesthesia Care Unit Opioid Requirement Compared With General Anesthesia In Hip Arthroscopy

Purpose: We sought to identify the immediate postoperative differences in opioid use, pain scores, and post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) length of stay (LOS) after hip arthroscopy related to the type of anesthesia used for the surgical procedure. Methods: Patients undergoing hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement syndrome with labral tears by a single surgeon at an academic center between October 2017 and July 2019 were reviewed retrospectively. The primary outcome was PACU opioid administration, measured by morphine equivalents. Secondary parameters included total LOS, postincision LOS, PACU LOS, and PACU arrival/discharge pain scores. Analyses conducted were t tests, Wilcoxon rank sum tests, or chi(2) tests. Results: A total of 129 patients met inclusion criteria for this study; 54 male and 75 female, with an average age of 28 (+/- 10.1) years. In total, 52 (40.3%) had general anesthesia and 77 (59.7%) had neuraxial anesthesia, including spinal, epidural, and combined spinal-epidural anesthesia, which were intermixed throughout the study period. Intraoperative and PACU opioid administration demonstrated a significant difference in medians. Neuraxial methods required a lower morphine equivalents in both the operating room (30.0 vs 53.9, P = .001) and PACU (18.2 vs 31.2, P = 0.002). Neuraxial anesthesia had lower median PACU arrival and discharge pain scores (0.0 vs. 5.0, P = .001, 3.0 vs. 4.0, P = .013). There was no statistically significant difference in postincision LOS or traction time. General anesthesia was associated with a longer PACU phase 1 time (1.0 vs 1.3 hours, P = .005). No major adverse events such as death, disability, or prolonged hospitalization occurred in either group. Conclusions: Neuraxial anesthesia use in routine hip arthroscopy was associated with lower immediate postoperative pain scores, lower intraoperative and immediate postoperative opioid requirements, and may be associated with shorter anesthesia recovery time without any major adverse events when compared with general anesthesia.