Objective: To compare spinal anesthesia with the gold standard general anesthesia for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy in healthy patients.
Materials and methods: Controlled, prospective, randomized trial of 60 patients with symptomatic gallstone disease and American Society of Anesthesiologists status I or II were operated for laparoscopic cholecystectomy under spinal (n=30) or general (n=30) anesthesia between the academic years March 2009 and July 2010.
Results: All the procedures were completed by the allocated method of anesthesia, as there were no conversions from spinal to general anesthesia. Pain was significantly less at 4 hours (P<0.0001), 8 hours (P<0.0001), 12 hours (P<0.0001), and 24 hours (P=0.0001) after the procedure for the spinal anesthesia group, compared with those who received general anesthesia. There was no difference between the two groups regarding complications, hospital stay, recovery, or degree of satisfaction at follow-up.
Conclusions: Spinal anesthesia is adequate and safe for laparoscopic cholecystectomy in otherwise healthy patients and offers better postoperative pain control than general anesthesia without limiting the recovery.
Keywords: General anesthesia; laparoscopic cholecystectomy; spinal anesthesia.