[Effect of combined spinal and epidural anesthesia on blood loss during total hip replacement].

Ninety total hip replacements (THRs) performed by one surgeon were reviewed to compare the effects of different anesthetic techniques on the perioperative bleeding. Half of the THRs were performed under either combined spinal and epidural (CSE) anesthesia with lidocaine or general anesthesia with N2O/O2, vecuronium, enflurane or isoflurane. Deliberate hypotensive technique was not employed in any THR. All patients were female and had suffered from osteoarthritis of the hip joints. The patients in the two anesthesia groups were similar as to age, body weight, height, perioperative hemoglobin level, duration of anesthesia and operation, and blood transfusion requirement. A positive linear correlation existed between total operative blood loss and operation time in each group (P < 0.01). The rate of operative blood loss was significantly higher in the CSE anesthesia (6.2 +/- 3.0 ml.min-1) than in the general anesthesia (5.1 +/- 2.0 ml.min-1), while the amount of blood loss itself was without statistical difference. A significant increase in total volume of perioperative blood loss was also observed in the group with CSE anesthesia (1520 +/- 90 ml) compared with the general anesthesia group (1279 +/- 58 ml). These results show that spinal and/or epidural anesthesia can not always lead to reductions in operative blood loss during THR.