Evaluating the Association of Anesthesia Type with Postoperative Complications in Patients Undergoing Ankle Fracture Repair

CATEGORY: Ankle INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE: General and neuraxial anesthesia are both successful anesthesia techniques used in many orthopaedic procedures. Neuraxial anesthesia involves local anesthetics placed around the central nervous system (CNS) and spinal anesthesia is a subtype where the anesthetic is injected into intrathecal space. General anesthesia is usually recommended in ambulatory surgeries for its rapid onset of action. However, current literature shows contradicting complication profiles between these two anesthesia types. The purpose of this study was to compare the complications and length of hospital stay between patients who underwent general anesthesia versus neuraxial anesthesia during the repair of ankle fractures. METHODS: Patients undergoing open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) for ankle fracture from 2014 to 2018 were identified in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. Patients were stratified into 2 cohorts: general anesthesia and neuraxial anesthesia. In this analysis, demographics data, comorbidities, and postoperative complications were collected and compared between the two cohorts. Bivariate analyses and multivariable logistical regression were performed. RESULTS: Of 3,585 patients who underwent operative treatment for ankle fracture, 3,315 patients (92.5%) had general anesthesia and 270 (7.5%) had neuraxial anesthesia. Compared to patients who had general anesthesia, those who had neuraxial anesthesia were more likely to be older (58.0 vs 49.6 years old; p<0.001), Caucasian (80.0% vs 71.9%; p=0.001), and have an ASA classification of III (38.1% vs 25.0%; p<0.001). On bivariate analyses, patients who had neuraxial anesthesia were more likely to develop pulmonary complications (p=0.173) or extended length of stay more than 5 days (p=0.342) compared to the general anesthesia group. Following adjustment on multivariate analyses, the neuraxial anesthesia cohort no longer had increased likelihood of pulmonary complications or extended length of stay compared to the general anesthesia group. CONCLUSION: Prior studies have shown that neuraxial anesthesia methods are as effective as general anesthesia with fewer short- term outcomes. When compared to patients who underwent general anesthesia during ORIF for ankle fracture, neuraxial anesthesia patients experienced no significant increases in postoperative complications or extended length of hospital stay. In terms of the variables we explored in the NSQIP database, healthy ankle fracture patients could also benefit from neuraxial anesthetic methods, and they should be considered for this anesthetic type regardless of their lack of comorbidities that would make them high risk for general anesthesia.