Two Types of Anesthesia and Hemodynamic Changes in Patients Over 60 Years of Age Who Need Artificial Femoral Head Replacement: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Artificial femoral head replacement is one of the most effective methods for treatment of severe diseases of femoral joint in the elderly. The ideal anesthetic effect is one of the key elements for the success of the operation because it brings fast recovery. However, the multiple comorbidities of the elder patients make them too weak to tolerate the hemodynamic changes after anesthesia. In this case, the most suitable anesthesia method for patients undergoing femoral head replacement surgery is of great significance. Objective: To compare the post-anesthetic hemodynamic changes between combined lumbar plexus and sciatic nerve block(CLPSB) and combined spinal and epidural anesthesia(CSEA) in elderly patients undergoing unilateral artificial femoral head replacement. Methods: We reviewed records of the patients who aged over 60 years old (age 62-103 years) and received unilateral artificial femoral head replacement between January 2015 and December 2020 in the first affiliated hospital of Shantou University Medical College. After adjustment according to the inclusion criteria, 477 patients were included and divided into CLPSB group (n=90) and CSEA group (n=387). The primary outcome was comparison of the hemodynamic changes after anesthesia, including the systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR). The second outcome was the comparison of the vasopressor used during the surgery. Results: We established three models to compare the two anesthesia methods on hemodynamic changes. Crude model included all variates for analysis, while model I adjusted age and gender. Model II adjusted other comorbidities in addition to model I. All three models exhibit that changes of MAP (∆MAP) after CSEA were higher than that after CLPSB(β= 6.88, 95% CI: 4.33 - 9.42, P < 0.0001), with significant difference, which indicated that CSEA causes higher fluctuation of MAP. Concurrently, the use of vasopressors increased by 137% (OR=2.37, 95%CI: 1.24-4.53, P=0.0091) in the CSEA group, which is statistically significant. However, the changes of HR (∆HR) between the CLPSB and CSEA was not significant(β= 0.50, 95% CI: 1.62 - 2.62, P = 0.6427). Conclusions: Both CLPSB and CSEA are ideal anesthesia methods for patients receiving femoral head eplacement, though CLPSB is more suitable for elderly patients with advanced hemodynamic stability.