The effect of general anesthesia and combined general and regional anesthesia on postoperative pain in arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery: a randomized controlled prospective study

Abstract

Objective: Postoperative pain seen in the first 48 hours after surgery, is an important problem and various methods are used in postoperative pain control. This study aims to investigate the effects of general anesthesia and combined general and regional anesthesia use on postoperative pain in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair operations.Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight female patients who were planned for arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery were included. The patients were randomly divided into two groups. Scalene block was applied to patients in Group 1 (n=14) in addition to general anesthesia while the patients in Group 2 (n=14) received only general anesthesia. Pain levels of the groups at the sixth, 12th, and 24th hours were evaluated with the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The findings were analyzed with Student's-t test and Mann-Whitney U test using SPSS 18.0 statistical program. Results:The average age of the Group 1 was 57 (45 ± 68); and the average age of the patients in Group 2 was 57.93 (47 ± 69). The postoperative pain levels of Group 1 was 1.57 (± 1.74) at the 6th hour; 2.57 (± 1.28) at the 12th hour, 2.71 (± 1.20) at the 24th hour; in Group 2 the 6th hour pain level was 8.00 (± 1.75); 12th hour level was 7.00 (± 1.52); and it was 6.00 (± 1.57) at the 24th hour. There was a statistically significant difference in all measurements in terms of VAS scores (p <0.001). Conclusion:It is concluded that implementation of scalene block in addition to general anesthesia, increases the success of the operation in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair surgery.