Laparoscopic Totally Extraperitoneal Inguinal Hernia Repair Under Combined Spinal Epidural Anesthesia Versus General Anesthesia

Background: Inguinal hernia repair is one of the most frequently used elective surgical operations in the world. General anesthesia (GA) has risks and routine postoperative complications, such as nausea, vomiting, throat irritation, and postoperative pain. Regional anesthesia (RA) has many advantages over GA, such as faster recovery, less postoperative pain, nausea, and vomiting, and less hemodynamic compromise. We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of combined spinal and epidural anesthesia (CSEA) in preventing shoulder pain in patients undergoing totally extraperitoneal herniorrhaphy (TEP). Materials and Methods: The files of patients who had undergone the TEP method under GA and CSEA due to inguinal hernia between April 2020 and November 2021 at the Bakirköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. Results: A total of 81 patients were included in the study. The number of patients operated on GA (group 1) was 40, and the number of patients operated under CSEA (group 2) was 41. There was no significant difference in the demographic characteristics of the patients. The surgical time was 42.9 and 42.5 minutes in groups 1 and 2, respectively ( P =0.970). The mean operative time was recorded as 60.1 and 80.2 minutes in groups 1 and 2, respectively, and it was statistically significantly shorter in group 1 ( P <0.001). A peritoneal tear was seen in 18 patients (43.90%) in the GA group and 16 patients (40%) in the CSEA group, but no significant difference was found between the groups ( P =0.823). Mild shoulder pain that did not require intervention was observed in 1 patient (2.5%) in the CSEA group. In group 2, the VAS scores at all times and the need for postoperative analgesia were statistically significantly lower ( P <0.001). In terms of anesthesia complications, headache was not observed in group 1, while it was seen in 6 (15%) patients in group 2 ( P =0.012) Conclusions: In laparoscopic TEP surgeries, CSEA may be an alternative anesthesia method to GA anesthesia due to the low VAS score, less need for analgesia, and fewer postoperative pulmonary complications.