Pain, Analgesic Use, and Patient Satisfaction With Spinal Versus General Anesthesia for Hip Fracture Surgery : A Randomized Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: The REGAIN (Regional versus General Anesthesia for Promoting Independence after Hip Fracture) trial found similar ambulation and survival at 60 days with spinal versus general anesthesia for hip fracture surgery. Trial outcomes evaluating pain, prescription analgesic use, and patient satisfaction have not yet been reported. OBJECTIVE: To compare pain, analgesic use, and satisfaction after hip fracture surgery with spinal versus general anesthesia. DESIGN: Preplanned secondary analysis of a pragmatic randomized trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02507505). SETTING: 46 U.S. and Canadian hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged 50 years or older undergoing hip fracture surgery. INTERVENTION: Spinal or general anesthesia. MEASUREMENTS: Pain on postoperative days 1 through 3; 60-, 180-, and 365-day pain and prescription analgesic use; and satisfaction with care. RESULTS: A total of 1600 patients were enrolled. The average age was 78 years, and 77% were women. A total of 73.5% (1050 of 1428) of patients reported severe pain during the first 24 hours after surgery. Worst pain over the first 24 hours after surgery was greater with spinal anesthesia (rated from 0 [no pain] to 10 [worst pain imaginable]; mean difference, 0.40 [95% CI, 0.12 to 0.68]). Pain did not differ across groups at other time points. Prescription analgesic use at 60 days occurred in 25% (141 of 563) and 18.8% (108 of 574) of patients assigned to spinal and general anesthesia, respectively (relative risk, 1.33 [CI, 1.06 to 1.65]). Satisfaction was similar across groups. LIMITATION: Missing outcome data and multiple outcomes assessed. CONCLUSION: Severe pain is common after hip fracture. Spinal anesthesia was associated with more pain in the first 24 hours after surgery and more prescription analgesic use at 60 days compared with general anesthesia. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

The demographics of persistent opioid consumption following limb amputation.

BACKGROUND: Patients who have limb amputation are at risk of chronic pain, including phantom limb pain that can be challenging to treat. The aim of this study was to describe the incidence of pre-operative opioid usage and the incidence and risk factors for new persistent post-operative opioid usage in opioid-naïve patients after limb amputation. METHODS: A retrospective study of all patients 18 years and older underwent upper or lower extremity amputations in Landspitali University Hospital between 2005 and 2015. Patients were considered to use opioids pre-operatively if they filled an opioid prescription 1-6 months prior to amputation and were considered to have persistent opioid use if opioid prescriptions were filled between post-operative months four to twenty-four. In addition to incidence estimate, uni- and multivariate analysis was performed to identify risk factors for persistent post-operative opioid usage. RESULTS: Of 328 total patients, 216 (66%) were opioid naïve and 112 (34%) were chronic opioid users. Of the opioid-naïve patients surviving more than 3 months 40 (20%) developed persistent post-operative opioid usage. In multivariate analysis, factors independently associated with persistent post-operative opioid usage were younger age, male gender, pre-operative use of neuropathic medications or benzodiazepines and lower (opposed to upper) extremity amputation. CONCLUSION: Opioid naïve patients undergoing major amputation had a 20% chance of having a persistent opioid requirement following surgery. This could represent new-onset phantom limb pain or other chronic pain. Our findings should encourage perioperative multimodal efforts to reduce the burden of chronic pain after limb amputations.

Associated Risk Factors and Complications in Vascular Surgery Patients Requiring Unplanned Postoperative Reintubation.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of reintubation within 30 days in vascular surgery patients and the associated risk factors and complications. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study with univariate and multivariate analyses of risk factors and outcomes from data collected by the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. SETTING: All institutions participating in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. PARTICIPANTS: All patients older than 18 undergoing vascular surgery. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A reintubation rate of 2.2% among vascular surgery patients within the first 30 days was demonstrated. Reintubation was associated positively with increased age, low body mass index, poor functional status, smoking status, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, and increased anesthesia and surgical times. In addition, specific procedures were found to have significantly increased rates of reintubation, including bypass surgery, thrombectomy, and open thoracic and abdominal aorta surgery. Reintubation was associated positively with all measured complications, including a quadrupled length of average hospital stay (19.8 v 5.5 days), a 10-fold risk of mortality (33.9% v 2.6%), and a 40-fold risk of cardiac arrest (22.4% v 0.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing major vascular surgery represent a high-risk population for unplanned postoperative reintubation. Preoperative evaluation should include the consideration of the positively associated risk factors found in this study. Due to the significant morbidity associated with unplanned reintubation, additional work is needed to identify risk factors amenable to optimization in the preoperative period.