Comparison of the Effects of Spinal Anaesthesia and General Anaesthesia on Postoperative Oxygenation and Perioperative Mortality

Key Points

• To evaluate and compare the effects of spinal anaesthesia versus general anaesthesia on postoperative arterial oxygenation and 4-week perioperative mortality in patients undergoing surgery for a fractured neck of femur.
• Enrolled 100 patients presenting for surgical repair of fractured neck of femur.
• Allocated patients to receive either spinal anaesthesia (SAB) or general anaesthesia (GA).
• Assessed baseline and 1-hour postoperative arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) and recorded 4-week all-cause mortality.
• Baseline mean PaO2 was 9.04 kPa before operation across all participants.
• At 1 hour post-surgery, PaO2 decreased significantly by 0.68 kPa in the GA group, whereas blood-gas values remained unchanged in the SAB group.
• Postoperative 4-week mortality was 15.7% (8 patients) in the GA group versus 10.2% (5 patients) in the SAB group, a difference that was not statistically significant.