Neuroaxial anesthesia in a patient with progressive systemic sclerosis : case presentation and review of the literature on systemic sclerosis

BACKGROUND: Systemic sclerosis (SSc), a progressive disease characterized by excessive accumulation of connective tissue components. Although most patients have long survival, some of them progress rapidly to death. Pulmonary system involvement and pulmonary hypertension are the most frequent cause of death. When the patient with SSc is to be operated, the anesthetic procedure could be a serious problem. In this article, we report a combined spinal – epidural technique in a patient with progressive SSc and the anesthetic considerations that could be recommended for these patients. CASE PRESENTATION: A 68-year-old woman who had a history of progressive systemic sclerosis, pulmonary fibrosis, kyphoscoliosis and decreased oral apertura underwent total hip arthroplasty. This operation was performed successfully under combined spinal epidural anesthesia. CONCLUSION: Systemic sclerosis is a complex disease that involves multiple organ systems. Every aspects of anesthetic care may be altered or hindered by the pathogenesis of disease. Although the choice of regional or general anesthesia is unclear, to choose combined spinal epidural anesthesia may be useful

Retrospective Evaluation of Anesthesia Techniques for Hip Replacement Operations

OBJECTIVE: In this retrospective study, we evaluated the demographic characteristics of patients that underwent hip replacement surgery in our orthopedic clinic. Associated diseases, preoperative laboratory findings, intraoperative findings, and the effect of admission or refusal to the intensive care unit on postoperative mortality and morbidity were recorded. Furthermore, we tried to identify surgical and anaesthetic methods applied, intraoperative hemodynamic changes, length of stay in the post-anaesthesia care unit, and postoperative complications. METHODS: Demographic characteristics, co-morbidities, preoperative laboratory findings, intraoperative findings, and admission or refusal to the intensive care unit of patients who underwent hip replacement surgery between January 2008-December 2010 were enrolled. RESULTS: Out of 500 patients, 33.4% (n=164) were operated under general anaesthesia, 34% (n=170) under combined spinal-epidural anaesthesia, 22.2% (n=111) under spinal anaesthesia, 6.4% (n=32) under combined lomber plexus block and sciatic nerve block, and 4% (n=20) under epidural anaesthesia. Mean hospital stay was 7 days in the general anaesthesia group and 5 days in the regional anaesthesia group. CONCLUSION: American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) scores and incidence of co-morbidities were higher in the partial hip replacement group. Admission to the intensive care unit was lower in the total hip replacement group. Hospital stay was shorter in the partial hip replacement group. Mortality rates on the 7(th) and 30(th) days were higher in the partial hip replacement group